The Wrong Number
by IpsitaC77
Summary: Sometimes, even a wrong step can ultimately lead you to the right path. Will a couple of mistaken digits be that step for them? — A simple tale of common people and their ordinary lives. *** #7 in Top Ten Completed Fics for June 2017 on TwiFanfictionRecs***
1. From Error to Error

**A/N: Last year, my dear friend, Jdifrans1 coerced me to write with her and a teensy-weensy wish was born inside my heart. That wish eventually brought me here. One day, a random image popped in my feed on Pinterest and this story began to take shape.**

 **This is an inadequate effort on my part to show my love and gratitude to the amazing people here who have become a significant part of my life. People I might not ever see face to face, but who have accepted me without judgment, loved me with open hearts. This little tale has many things from their lives... things they love, things they hate, things we have shared in chats that left an impression in my mind, events that happened in their lives, endings they wished for, but never happened.**

 **I hope you smile when you find your pieces, my persons.**

 **My first attempt to write something alone would have been impossible without ForeverRobsessed. She has transformed my gibberish into a comprehensible something. Accomplishing this gruelling task without complaints and always indulging my whimsical thought process are not the easiest tasks. I can never thank her enough, love her enough for what she means to me.**

 **Thank you for indulging me with this long A/N. I will try to write just one-liners from now on!**

 **Disclaimer - Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight. No copyright infringement is intended.**

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 **Chapter 1: From Error to Error**

 ***Friday, 7:20 PM**

City lights blink like millions of fireflies, glimmering in the dark like jewelled patches over the surface of the earth, as it would appear to anyone watching it from space. Every light tells a story, every blink holds a change of event. They're not too significant in the history of mankind, but to the individual illuminated by that little spark, it could mean the world. Sometimes it's a turn to the right direction, sometimes it's finding themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time. However, at this moment, the lights around Angela Cheney only remind her of how wrong everything is going to be if she doesn't reach the illuminated red booth as soon as possible.

It's a rain-soaked July evening in Calgary. Cars honk angrily as Angela rushes through the unusual traffic jam, dodging and jumping between the vehicles to get to the other side of the road. Her need to reach the telephone booth on the opposite pavement is greater than everything else is at this moment. Her phone is not working since she had dropped it in a puddle this afternoon, and she needs to call one of the only two numbers she has memorized. Like every other person with a mobile phone, her brain also remembers only the names on her contact list, not the digits attached to them.

 _The gift of modern technology_ , she thinks sarcastically.

Slamming the door open, she enters the booth, only to stop dead in her tracks.

Muted streetlight seeps in through the textured glass surrounding the booth, red, yellow, and blue illuminating the lone receiver hanging limply off the hook and swaying slightly. The scene tugs at a melancholic string inside her, bringing back a time long gone.

 _A little girl peeks inside the phone booth, as the voice of a woman grows louder. The kid's apprehensive eyes watch the scene as the woman's angry tears roll down her cheeks. Quietly stepping inside, she clutches the hem of the woman's dress in her tiny hands and waits silently. A few minutes pass, then the woman slams the receiver down, but it misses the cradle. Not caring anymore, she whirls around and starts dragging the little girl out of the booth by her arm. She doesn't notice that the call hasn't been disconnected. The crackling sound coming from the hanging off the hook receiver fills the air. The woman ignores a man's muffled plea to understand him, to let him talk to his little angel as she forcefully takes the child away._

Angela had revisited that incident many times behind her closed eyelids. In her black and white dreams, the voice from the receiver got louder and louder until she woke up—trembling, drenched in sweat. Her subconscious used to replay this event from her childhood more frequently when she was younger. The voice on the other end of the phone had belonged to her father. They had been waiting for his return to their small hometown in England, but once again, Angela's father had been deployed. He could not make it home that summer.

He did not make his way back to them, ever.

Their family had never been the same after that. They had left their country and settled in Canada when Angela was seven years old. The resigned anger coming from her mother and her father's helpless plea pouring out of that piece of black plastic had been imprinted forever in her memory. Though she very rarely dreams about it now, when she had said 'I do' to Ben, the image had made an appearance in her head for a second.

It takes her a few more moments to gather herself and remember her reason to be there. The nerves and panic return in full force. Dropping a quarter in the slot, she dials and waits impatiently. It rings a few times and then someone picks up. Angela starts talking before the person on the other end gets a chance to say hello.

"Cynthia, I'm so, so sorry! I was stuck in a meeting on the opposite side of the city. My phone died, and I'm just leaving for home. Then there was this accident near a construction site that caused a major traffic block. I know you said that you'd like to leave early tonight, but could you please, please stay a little longer? I will take a taxi and be there as soon as possible. I will pay you double overtime for this extra hour. Please, Cynthia?"

She stops to take a much-needed breath, and a familiar chuckle fills her ears.

"Sorry, Mrs. Cheney. I accept service only in kind from gorgeous women, no cash."

'Wha—? Ben? Is that you? Why are you home? I mean, how? How are you home and I didn't know about it?" she nearly screams in excitement.

"I got an impromptu leave. And imagine my shock when hundreds of semi-naked images of that underwear model on the babysitter's laptop screen welcomed me home!" Ben guffaws.

"Cynthia must have been getting her David Gandy fill for the day." Angela laughs out loudly. "And I'll let you know, Mr. Cheney, that he's not just any underwear model! He is a super hot celebrity with millions of fans."

"Whatever, wifey! I don't wanna hear about other hot guys you have been lusting after while I was away. Hurry now and come home to me. Cynthia has left a while ago, and our little princess is almost asleep. I'm in serious need of collecting that double overtime."

"Are you now?" she whispers, her voice choked with happiness. After promising to be home soon, she puts the receiver back on the cradle and sighs.

 _It's amazing how a single person can change the implication of an image forever imprinted in your soul_.

Ben had been stationed in Central Norway since last March for some classified CAF training. Though it wasn't a war front, Angela has been missing her husband like crazy. She is certain that the image of a receiver hanging off the hook will incite a different dream for her now.

Just when she is about to step out of the kiosk, her gaze falls on a square object lying on the floor in the corner. Curiosity flares in her mind and she picks it up.

It is a bar coaster.

 _A strange object to find here,_ she thinks.

In the dim light of the booth, she can only read the name "Bronko's Pub" printed brightly on it. There are also some handwritten words and numbers on both sides, but it looks like some kind of liquid had spilled on them, making it difficult to read them in the low light. Deciding to decipher it later, Angela leaves the red kiosk with the coaster clutched in her hand. The cryptologist in her doesn't allow her to leave it there, but at the moment, she has a more promising goal to reach.

 _ **A few hours earlier in the same red telephone kiosk**_

"Stupid asshole!"

Bella Swan kicks the stand on which the pay phone is mounted. Her face is flushed with frustration, and she desperately tries to stop the tears from spilling.

She should have known this would happen! If Mrs. Simpson's cats don't approve of a guy, it's a sign to not let that fucker even stand on your doormat, let alone taking him into the bedroom. But she had ignored the feline intervention and even saved Mike from both Buster and Flora. Their disapproving growls directed to his shoes and scratches on his fingers should have been enough indication. Though the sweet lady from next door apologized profusely for the misbehavior of her fur babies, the said babies never changed their heartfelt greetings every time they had encountered Mike.

Bella is absolutely certain that they had mewed a smug "told you so" or two after she'd kicked Mike out.

The deal was "she cooks-he cleans" whenever he'd stayed over. Last night, the pig had cleaned up her apartment quite well! She shouldn't have let him stay when he'd knocked on her door in the middle of the night, looking thoroughly beat. Though Bella had broken things off with him weeks ago, she could not shut the door in his face. Mike had three pieces of luggage with him. His excuse was that he was going out of town, and his car broke. The garage took long to repair it, while he waited in a nearby bar and then he wasn't in any shape to drive.

"I will be on the couch and out of your hair before you're up," he had promised and he had kept it, too! Only making her home a little too clean in his wake! Her laptop, which had been on the kitchen counter, her phone charging in the living room because the power socket at her bedside had not been working properly, and her collection of Outlander toys had been found to be missing this morning.

Her heart breaks for the kilt-wearing tiny editions of Jamie Fraser. Why a grown man would want them is a mystery to her. It is totally a girly thing to collect figurines of their favourite characters. Though Mike had talked about how his little sister loved the show, Bella had never suspected he'd steal those.

Mike was neither poor nor rich. He was just an average guy with a regular job that paid bills without much trouble. Bella had never tried to learn more because it wasn't like she was going to marry him! However, she remembers finding unusual things in his pockets. Small office stationeries like a box of clips or a stapler, little soaps from the hotel's bathroom where he'd attended a conference, or the bar coaster from a pub he'd frequented with his co-workers. He'd always blamed his forgetful nature to put things back in right places.

Now the more she thinks about it, the more it feels like a case of severe kleptomania.

Bella's old laptop is still good for at least one more year, and her only consolation is that all her notes are saved in the cloud so that she won't have to collect them again. Nevertheless, she can't even think about taking notes on paper with a pen anymore. Technology has ruined her old habits and buying a new laptop will put a nice dent in her savings.

However, the phone falls in the most emergent category. Without that, she is completely lost. Some of her contacts are synced in her drive, but not all. She has been slacking with her own needs lately. These days, Bella feels like she's always running behind the clock. Alerts, reminders, alarms are the things keeping her on track. Coordinating her busy schedule of classes in the university, study sessions with her peers, and two jobs will be impossible until she buys a new phone, which means more money gone from her account. Without it, she does not even have any way to reschedule tomorrow's study session.

That is not all.

The latest photos she took of Rose were still in it. She can't lose those.

Rosalie Hale, her best friend, has been a resident of one of the private rooms in Foothill Medical Center for a while now and has more bad days than good. Somewhere along the line fighting against the last stage of cancer, Rose has lost her natural ability to stay strong in every situation. If the disease has sucked the life out of Rosalie's body, what happened with Emmett has shattered her soul completely. But that is also so very Rose. Not caring about her own needs, she had wanted a life for Emmett without her shadow lurking around his heart. Coming from a broken home, she always knew how it felt to lose the people you love, and she didn't want it for Emmett. Knowing very well that seeing her fade away in front of his eyes would break him, Rose had never even informed him about her sickness. Instead, after pushing him away with deliberate uncaring ways for a while, she'd crafted a perfect incident of her cheating on him with Riley. After that, the big man with a built of a wrestler and a heart of gold had been forced to admit his defeat to have a future with Rose. That was seven months ago, just before her first surgery, and Bella hasn't seen Emmett or heard from him since then.

Last Sunday was a rare happier day she had with her best friend, and she took pictures after pictures on her phone to keep the moments with her forever. She hadn't gotten the chance to transfer or print those out yet. Thinking about losing those moments forever, tears her heart apart.

Bella was alone today at the front desk of the music studio where she works part time and had a short gap of time before her shift started in the pub. So she went to the apartment Mike had shared with two more guys, only to discover that it had been up for a new lease since last week. Nobody could help her there, and the landlord had rudely refused to give her any information about his former tenants.

Then, unexpectedly, a glimmer of hope had presented itself to her when she'd arrived at her second job.

 _Bronko's Pub is fairly empty at this time of the day. The regular lunch suits are gone and the Friday evening crowd has not started rolling in yet. Liam, the Irish owner of the pub, is at the bar checking stocks for the coming weekend with a clipboard in his hand._

" _Hey, Swan! Where's the sunshine today?" He frowns when Bella comes to stand near him._

" _Gone with the bastard when he stole my things!" she snaps without thinking, but immediately feels bad about taking it out on Liam and starts apologizing._

" _No worries, kiddo," Liam stops her. "What happened? Who stole your stuff?"_

" _Hi, mates. Hola, Captain."_

 _Jessica, the other bartender, waltzes through the door in that moment._

 _Jess is crazy about everything related to pirates. Today she is wearing a short dark leather skirt with a tight black & white horizontally striped t-shirt, which has been cut off at the neck. The jagged hem looks like it has gone through Jessica's own experiment with scissors. A bunch of bangles in the right arm, big anchor shaped earrings, a long necklace with a big compass pendant, smokey eye shadow, and bright red lipstick complete her look. This young girl with blond hair knows how to catch eyes._

" _Where's the sinking ship?" she asks on noticing the sombre atmosphere._

 _Once Bella finishes recounting what the sleaze ball had done, a comforting pair of arms hugs her from behind. She inhales deeply the familiar fragrance of Chanel coming from Siobhan, Liam's wife._

" _You will get through it, sweetie. You are such a strong girl. I don't think he'll come back again to bother you after this and that's definitely a good thing," she tells Bella with a loving pat on the side of her head. "Though I wish we can find a way to get your things back."_

 _Jessica has been unusually quiet the whole time Bella has been talking. Suddenly, she dives behind the bar, startling the others, and starts rummaging through the things kept on the shelves below the counter, while everyone gapes at her. After a few moments, she straightens up and slaps a bar coaster on the counter._

" _Voila!"_

" _What is it, Jess?" Liam asks._

" _This." Jess taps a long fingernail painted in electric blue on the small square thing. "This will help you catch the son of a gun. There's his phone number on it."_

" _What? How do you have it?" Bella exclaims._

" _You don't remember it? That scurvy dog tried to push it inside your shirt the night he first came here. But of course, you don't! Because you were busy ogling the green-eyed hottie." Jess winks at Bella saucily. "I found the coaster when I was cleaning up that night, but forgot to tell you."_

 _Bella's eyes widen, and she clamps a hand over her mouth. Of course, she remembers! Both Mike's attempt to lean closer than was appropriate_ and _the green-eyed hottie, as Jess so eloquently puts it._

 _She had only seen him that one time three months ago. Tall, not lanky but not muscular either, with reddish brown unkempt hair, a sharp jaw line covered with day old stubble, a tiny bump on the bridge of his nose... making him more real than perfect._

 _However, what made her belly flutter, palms sweaty, and breathing shallow were the pair of green eyes he had lazily dragged over her body. His gaze wasn't greedy or dirty... instead, it was the buzz of static electricity, the satin of the softest caress, and the burn of unspoken promises. Every time she had locked eyes with this handsome man, carnal desire had flown through her veins. All her past experiences with men had paled in comparison in those moments._

 _The man hadn't said a single word to her, only his eyes had followed her throughout the evening. Still, she had felt that she would have to settle for only second bests from that day onward._

 _He never came back and so that's exactly what she did. Settled for the pathetic douchebag._

 _Which brings her to the situation created by said douchebag, and her face falls when she inspects the coaster._

" _It's wiped out, Jess."_

" _Let me look at it," Siobhan interjects. "Yucks! What grown man writes zeroes in the shape of hearts like teenagers? Such a loser to begin with!" She makes a face. "Anyway, the last two digits got wiped off, but you can read the rest. Can you remember it, Bella?_

" _Oh, wait! There's something else in the back!" She holds it up before Bella can reply._

" _What is it, Sibby?"Liam laughs. "Our bar coasters are becoming the FBI's dreams."_

 _Bella snatches it from Siobhan's hand and looks at it closely._

" _The game is lost when love is zero," she reads aloud. "What the hell is this? Looks like Mike had written some gibberish too! Though the handwriting doesn't look like his ant-crawling script." She rubs her finger over the writing absentmindedly._

" _But you can remember Mike's phone number now, right? Call the asshole and find a way to get back your things."_

" _I'm not sure, Jess. It was him who always called me, so I don't remember ever pulling his contact up to dial it. I think the last two digits are 5 &9, but that could be 6&9 or 3&9 or whatever."_

" _Anything but 69! I think that number is the farthest related to that fucking cockroach." Jessica scrunches up her nose in disgust. Her unedited dislike for Mike is on a full show today, and they all crack up loudly at her comment._

 _Liam shakes his head at his girls' antics. "Well, Bella, you should try the number," he says after the laughter dies down. "There is no harm in taking a chance. Here, use my phone."_

" _No, no, no," Jess protests. "The bastard won't pick up because you have it written boldly on your sign board, and if he is cunning enough, he has already saved it to avoid any connection to Bella. For the same reason, you can't use the landline of the pub either. Try the pay phone around the corner."_

" _Wow, Jess! When did you get so smart?" Siobhan teases._

" _That reminds me," Jess continues, ignoring the ribbing. "Boss, I saw you coming out of the booth last week. Who were you calling when you have a desk phone and a mobile in your pocket?" Jessica wriggled her eyebrows at Liam._

" _Leave my poor man alone, girls. You're yet to learn how to add spice to the age-old recipe." Siobhan winks at the girls, while her husband of thirty-one years flushes a little._

" _Ewwww!" They cry in unison._

" _Thank you very much, but I don't need the details of how you two smoothen out your kinks." Bella shudders, while Jess makes a face._

That is how Bella has ended up inside this tiny red kiosk around the corner of Bronko's. Irritated, frustrated, livid… would be some of the appropriate words to describe her current state of mind. Her first two attempts of trying to reach Mike have already gone horribly wrong.

One was a cranky old lady who began lecturing her about the dangers of calling strangers, and the other was the owner of a pet store, offering her a huge discount on dog food.

Her resolve has started to weaken, and now, she doubts whether the phone number is actually Mike's. She is already on the brink of throwing the coaster away and accepting her loss. Banging her forehead one more time against the glass, she picks up the receiver, convincing herself that the third time's a charm.

Bella takes a few deep breaths and starts dialling the numbers, her brows furrowed in concentration. She goes for 69 at the end this time, and a tiny smile comes to her lips when she remembers Jessica's comment. Jessica doesn't know how accurate she was in her assumption. Sex with Mike has been very _religious_ … he was the most devoted missionary man Bella has known.

The phone rings for a few times and then someone picks up.

"Hello," a deep voice greets.

"Hi! I'm looking for Mike Newton?" Bella replies in an unsure voice.

Something about the deep, throaty voice on the other end makes her nervous.

"Are you asking for him or asking if it's him?"

"Um… both, I guess."

"You guess! Well, I don't have the time or wish to play Guess Who with you, Miss. How did you get my number by the way? Or was that a random guess too?" the man on the other side barks.

Gathering every ounce of her almost non-existent patience, Bella tries to answer the rude man politely.

"Look, I am sorry, but I need to find Mike Newton. He needs to fix the shit he pulled last night and return my stuff. I can't find his phone number. Well, I have part of it, but not the whole thing. I mean, the freaking coaster got wet and the ink was wiped out, so I'm trying blindly here, and I really, really need to find Mike. Also, you don't need to be rude because I don't have the leftover cents to put up with one more asshole! So…"

Bella suddenly realizes that her angry rambling is not making any sense. A little mortified, she stops at the same time the person on the other side of the phone speaks.

"Wait! What coaster? What are you talking about?"

Taking a few deep breaths Bella starts again. "See, Mr..."

"Cullen. It's Edward Cullen. And who am I talking to?" He sounds impatient.

Against her better judgment, Bella starts again, a little slowly this time.

"Mr. Cullen, hello! I'm Isabella Swan, and I'm looking for a man called Mike Newton. All I have his phone number without the last two digits. The bar coaster he wrote it on, gets wet frequently with condensation from the glasses, so I'm trying out my best guesses here. You do understand the situation must be serious for me to act like a desperate telemarketing agent, right? I'm sorry I wasted your time, though."

"Which bar?" Edward Cullen asks with a strange calmness in his voice that wasn't there moments ago.

"I'm sorry?" Bella returns, confused.

"You said you have the number written on a bar coaster. Which bar we are talking about here?"

"It's Bronko's Pub."

"Bronko's. Hmmm... and you are Isabella?" he enquires.

"Ah, yes. Do you know anything about this Mike Newton I'm looking for? By any chance?" She is grasping at non-existent straws now.

"Nothing more than the fact that his phone number matches 80% to mine, and I'm the one with the 69." He chuckles.

Edward Cullen's tone suddenly becomes a little playful. Instead of feeling wary about this strange man, Bella finds herself smiling. A pregnant pause follows the moment, then he clears his throat, and she comes out of the light bubble of the last few seconds.

"All right then, Mr. Cullen. I'm sorry again for this intrusion. Because you are certainly not the person I need. Have a good day, sir," she says, the corner of her mouth still a little stretched.

"Well, I may not be the person you need, Isabella Swan, but don't waste your time chasing a lost game." With that, he abruptly hangs up.

"What the fuck!" Bella stares at the receiver in her hand, confused and getting more agitated with every passing second. The relative calm of the last few moments evaporates as the harshness of his parting words rings in her ears.

Flinging the coaster to the corner with an angry flick of her wrist, she slams the receiver on the cradle and storms out of the little red booth. In her anger-clouded state, she doesn't notice that the receiver bounces off the hook and continues to hang limply as the door snaps closed behind her.

 *** The plan is to post weekly. Thank you for reading.**


	2. Designer of My Own Catastrophe

**A/N: I'm so happy with your wonderful responses to this little story, you lovely people! Thank you!**

 **There's not enough word to express my love and gratitude for the lovely ForeverRobsessed. This was impossible without you.**

 ***SM owns all, only the coaster is mine!**

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 **Chapter 2 - Designer of My Own Catastrophe**

 _ ***Tuesday evening, Bronko's Pub***_

"You are nuts, Ange! Who comes all the way to the other side of the city to have a drink only because you found a coaster of this pub in a phone booth?"Ben mildly chastises his wife, but in reality, the not-so-subtle teasing tone and the way his arm circles her closely indicates anything but.

To this jovial, easygoing man, his wife is the center of his universe, and he'd do anything to see her smile. He spends the long gruelling days away from home encashing these moments. These memories keep him alive inside, never letting the uncertainty of life consume him completely.

Stepping inside the pub, they immediately notice the interesting decor and the unusually long counter. They walk towards the bar at the end of the large open area. There are two girls and a boy managing it. One of the girls working closer to their side is rocking a pirate girl look. This blond bartender appears just as charming as the setup she is working in.

The pub is not crowded at this hour because it's a weeknight. The patrons present look like regulars, and the music is upbeat, but not the kind that would hurt the eardrums. Once Angela makes herself comfortable on a high stool, she turns to Ben, only to find him looking at the girl too intently. Then the girl notices them and screams.

"Benjamin Cheney! Is that you? Oh my fucking God! I can't believe it's you, Benny!"

With a curious smile, Angela watches as the girl rushes around the counter and wraps her arms tightly around her husband. Ben hugs the girl back with equal enthusiasm. After a few seconds, he pulls back and holds her at arm's length.

"After all these years you land here in Bronko's? Oh God! Mum will be ecstatic when she hears I found you again!" the bartender continues excitedly.

"I wasn't sure it was you, Jessie. It has been what… six years? Jesus! Six years since I last saw you. You were fawning over that dirty-looking pirate every waking moment back then. Looks like that hasn't changed!" Ben laughs out loudly, waving a hand toward her outfit. His eyes grow soft with memories and happiness.

"Hey! No knocking my captain!" Jessica punches Ben's arm playfully.

Turning to his wife, Ben introduces her to Jessica—or _Jessie,_ as they used to call her back then. They have known each other for a long time given that Jessica's elder brother, Eric, had once been Ben's best friend. Eric died in a car crash six years ago, and his funeral was the last time they'd seen each other. Jessica was sixteen then. After getting their preferred drinks, they start catching up on the past years as much as possible with Jessica working on her side of the bar.

Angela looks around as she sips her drink.

The girl working at the other end of the bar, a pretty brunette with a somewhat distant look in her eyes, glances occasionally towards them, but keeps to her side. Looking closely at her, Angela finds her rather gorgeous. Dark skinny jeans, a bright floral T-shirt tied into a knot around her slim waist, chestnut hair styled casually into a long ponytail. Her eyes are smokey, and the red lipstick she has worn gives her a sultry look without seeming cheap.

"So what makes you come all the way to this part of the city? Certainly not just to get a drink here?" Jessica asks as she wipes down the counter after serving the customer to Ben's right.

"That's because of my darling wifey. She wished to come here and return one of your lost items," Ben jokes.

"Ben! Stop that," Angela hisses.

"How come?" Jessica has already sniffed a story there.

"It's nothing, Jessica," Angela answers with a flustered glare directed at her husband.

Ben, however, is unaffected and presses a quick kiss to her temple in reassurance before launching into a detailed description of how Angela found the bar coaster in the phone kiosk. He goes on to explain how she thinks the writings are significant to somebody related to the cryptic note. As the bar's name was the only definitive thing on the coaster, Angela persuaded him to come here for a drink and take a chance to get some answers regarding the message.

Jessica's eyes only grow wider as she listens. She glances at the opposite side of the bar a couple of times. Angela watches her reaction, and the hunch she had about the coaster solidifies.

 _Something's going on,_ she thinks.

"Hello, Jessica."

A smooth voice greets from behind Angela, and she turns to see a very handsome tall man with a beautiful, but somewhat nervous smile.

"Ah! There you are, Mr. Edward 'Coaster' Cullen!" Jess greets the newcomer with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Not again!" the man groans. "Haven't you all had your fill of laughing at me already?"

"Awww, come on, Poppet. This is so much fun," Jessica replies, undeterred. She places a beer in front of him. "Looks like there's some cosmic connection going on here. Angela, do you have the coaster with you? Can I see it?"

"Sure." Angela pulls it out from her purse and places it on the counter.

"Ladies and gentlemen! This here is the most unusual, unorthodox, unparalleled…everything that starts with _un_ …love note in the history of relationships. You have the pleasure of meeting one of the contributors, who was brave enough to try his luck using this masterpiece of wooing accessory." Jessica pauses to sweep her hand dramatically towards a grimacing Edward. "While the other artist had already fucked up royally."

Angela tries to hide her smile, while Ben laughs out loud.

Ignoring them with a hint of irritation, Edward levels his gaze with Jessica and says, "You agreed to help me and these theatrics don't fall into any category remotely associated with the word _help_."

"Geez! Are you an articulate ass all the time? Lose the stick where it's wrongfully stuck, Cullen, or you won't have a chance with the girl."Her next words are more to herself than for the other's ears. "Her shield is stronger these days than I've ever seen." There is a hint of softness in her voice that's so unlike Jessica.

"What does that mean?" Edward asks curiously, echoing Angela's unspoken thoughts.

"Not my story to tell or yours to know, _unless_ you can earn her trust," Jessica answers much too sweetly.

Focusing her attention on Angela, she continues, "You, on the other hand, earned the ticket for the front row seat of this play when you found the coaster in that phone booth."

Edward starts to say something in protest, a little hesitant about sharing his personal information with strangers, but Jessica stops him.

"Relax. I'm not going to spill your dark secrets or the colour of your underwear."

"Jesus! Have you ever learned the word _appropriate_ in your life?" He glares at her.

"Oh, cut it out! Your underwear would be the last thing I'd like to learn about." Jessica rolls her eyes.

"We don't want to intrude, Mr. Cullen. I was just curious about what was written on the coaster. Blame it on my fascination with mysteries or my job as a cryptologist." Angela tries to ease the tension showing on Edward's scowling face. "But it's okay if you don't want Jessica to divulge your personal matter in our presence."

"Well, I guess it's already out of my hand and personal zone." Edward tries to maintain his composure. "It's just that I don't want to come across as a cheap, dirty stalker."

"Oh, you are none of that." Jessica winks and Edward sighs in resignation, saying nothing else that would make it more enjoyable for her.

"You see that girl over there? That's Bella," Jessica starts with a subtle upside nod of her chin directed towards the brunette. "It was not the first night Mike Newton, one of our regular patrons, had tried to hit on B, but he'd finally gathered the courage to give her his phone number that day. Edward was also here."

"That was my first day here, though," Edward interjects.

"Mike didn't go for a napkin, but used a bar coaster instead to write his number down. Bella brushed him off as usual and didn't notice it. Also, her attention was occupied elsewhere." Jessica glances meaningfully in Edward's direction as the tips of his ears turn slightly pink.

"No one—not even Bella—knew that Mr. Cullen here also wrote something on that coaster." Jessica carefully lines up the clean glasses on the counter as she talks.

"Well, in my defense, it's pathetically immature and cheesy for a grown-up man to write zeroes in the shape of tiny hearts." Edward scrunches his nose.

He has already given up any hope of stopping Jess from spilling everything. He has also realized in the past couple of days that when it comes to Isabella Swan, he finds it difficult to maintain his normal reserved disposition. He still doesn't know what made him write those words on the coaster months ago or why he came looking for her twice in the past three months. Much to his disappointment, both times she wasn't here.

After the phone call on Friday, he doesn't know how to stop the constant war going on between his heart and his head. However, he knows that a strange sensation takes residence in his heart when he thinks about this beautiful girl. He hasn't talked to her before the phone call on Friday, but remembers every detail from the only time he has seen her…the day when Mike had made his moronic attempt to draw her attention.

The untold emotions in her eyes, the strong posture of her delicate body, the smile that doesn't always reach her expressive eyes—he remembers it all. Those images pop in his head during the most mundane tasks or even the most important meetings in the boardroom. Her body appeals to him like a musical instrument he wants to play delicately, to see how it responds to his touch and watch it reverberate in ecstasy. However, the attraction is not purely physical. He also wants to know her fears and hopes, her weaknesses and the dreams hidden in her heart in a way he never knew he would. Her words on the phone when she'd said that he was not the man she needed had felt like a punch in the gut. Maybe that's what brought him to the pub. He wants to be the man she needs.

"So Edward wrote that note with the weird tennis score reference. But due to the regular hustle and bustle of the bar, the coaster ended up on the floor under the counter where I found it. The next day onwards, Bella got busy with tests, and our schedules didn't match up for a couple of weeks. By the time we got back in groove, she had already given in to Mike's insistent pleas, and I forgot about the coaster," Jessica finishes.

Sometimes during their chat, Liam and Siobhan have come out of the back office and joined them. It's not uncommon to see Liam behind the bar, helping the girls, but Edward's visit yesterday ensured his wife's presence today. Yesterday, Jessica had grilled him about his intentions towards Bella, while Liam had simply observed the interaction. To Liam and Siobhan, Jessica and Bella are the daughters they never had. He has always allowed these two smart, hard working girls flexible shifts because he wants them to achieve something more than a bartending job. He feels very protective of them, but having no child of his own, he doesn't have the habit of hovering over them.

Now that Edward has finally managed to schedule his visit while Bella is present in the pub, everyone is eager to see how this is going to unfold. They hadn't expected the added company, though.

"I had the pleasure of meeting Edward a couple of times between that day and last Sunday, but unfortunately, neither Jess nor Bella was on duty on either occasion." Liam winks. Ben laughs good-naturedly at Edward's embarrassment, while Jessica can only gape in shock.

"You impress me, Mr. Romeo! You really aren't a cheap dirty stalker," she says sarcastically, bowing her head in Edward's direction.

After introducing Siobhan and himself to Ben and Angela, Liam refills everyone's drinks and suggests that Jess take a break. They move their chat away from the counter on Liam's request because it doesn't sit right with him for them to talk about Bella when she could be within hearing distance.

"Uh… Jessica? She isn't there." Edward points towards Bella's end of the bar, where a young guy is now attending to a couple of girls with a cheeky grin.

"Don't worry. She must have gone to the kitchen. We don't have a strict area rule here. She will be back in a few," Siobhan assures him with a smile before leading them to a table in the corner.

Liam takes Jessica's place behind the bar, so she settles in with the group with a bottle of water and continues narrating her story for Angela and Ben.

"Anyway, Bella kicked the dumbass out after a month, though I never understood why she gave him a chance to begin with. Playing the field has never been her scene. Last Friday, when Bella came in devastated because Mike had stolen her stuff _and_ her phone, I wanted to kill the bastard first and ask questions later."

True to her words, Jessica looks murderous even talking about it. She unscrews the cap of her bottle with a little more force than necessary.

"Only then did I remember about the coaster. The last two digits were wiped out due to condensation from the glasses, but we talked her into trying it. For safety purposes, we decided to use the pay phone booth around the corner," Jess says and stops to take a much-needed breath.

"Hey, Jess? Can you give me a hand here?"

All heads turn toward Bella. She's back at her spot at the end of the bar and is now holding a tray full of some finger food and a few glasses over the counter.

Jessica stands and walks over to take the tray from Bella. One of the assigned servers for the night has not arrived yet, but the girls are accustomed to giving a hand whenever needed. Jessica serves the table of young college boys with her usual frisky approach, which earns a round of boisterous laughter from them.

In the meantime, Siobhan picks up the story from where Jess had left off. "We never expected Bella to come back from the booth even angrier than before," she tells her captive audience. "She didn't give us any reason either, other than saying that she failed to catch Mike."

Jessica returns after handing the empty tray back to Bella and leans on the back of Siobhan's chair.

"But what's your connection to this latter part of the story?" Ben asks Edward.

"Now we come to the twist." Everybody except Edward leans forward as Jess stage-whispers the words. Edward simply shakes his head and glances quickly where his attention has been fixed since the moment he stepped into the pub.

Throughout the conversation, Angela has also been keeping an eye towards the end of the bar. She has noticed the difference in Bella's body language since Edward joined them. Edward's furtive glances aren't missed by anyone either.

"Last Sunday, this hot specimen came bearing information about the missing piece of the puzzle." Jessica snickers.

"He's our customer, pretty girl." Liam chides her as he comes through the door behind them, struggling to hold on to a crate of beer. "You will lose your bonus if I lose his business."

"Aye, Captain!" Jessica mock-salutes him as he moves away with a chuckle.

"So, Edward came looking for Bella on Sunday, but she had already taken that weekend off. On Monday, I caught him again, looking around like a lost puppy, so I had to step in."

"You mean you brought out the Spanish inquisition! Never in my life have I faced so many questions from a girl's self-appointed guardian." Edward rolls his eyes in fake indignation.

"Pfft! You haven't seen anything yet, pretty face. You'll be on your ass before you know it _if_ you make a wrong move with her, no matter how sexy said ass might be."

"Whoa, calm down, Tiger!" Ben tries to defuse the heat. "I still don't get why Edward came to look for Bella after all this time?"

"When Bella was trying to call Mike by guessing the last two last digits of his phone number, she ended up calling me instead," Edward answers before Jess can start another round of dramatic explanation.

"What a strange coincidence! Of all the people she called you?" Angela's eyes bug out in surprise. She looks at Bella, who is still purposely ignoring this side of the room.

"Well, not much of a coincidence if I'm being honest here," Edward replies with a grimace."My phone number is the same as Mike except the last two digits. That's what I noticed first on the coaster. It felt kind of insulting seeing those hearts _adorning_ my almost numerical identity. Anyway, over the course of these three months, I had forgotten his number and couldn't help Bella."

"But just like B, Mr. Cullen here also won't tell us what else he said to set her off… just that he wants to talk to her and make amends." Jess looks at him pointedly, crossing her arms over her chest.

"That story is for us to know and yours to keep your nose out of, Jessica,"Edward sings, imitating her tone from earlier, which makes Jess sneer at finishes his drink in one long gulp, puts the bottle down and stands. As he starts walking towards the other end of the bar, a hand catches his elbow firmly, making him stop and turn.

"Remember, Edward, we will be watching. Don't add more to her already-overflowing plate." Despite Siobhan's gentle words, her expression is anything but.

 _ ***The same evening at the other end of the bar ***_

Isabella Swan is having a weird evening behind the counter. Actually, it has been like this since last failure to locate Mike, as well as the strange conversation with Edward Cullen on that wrong number have torn apart the thin thread of control she was hanging by. After the call, she had come back to the pub and worked through her shift without saying a word more than necessary. Her employers and co-workers were accustomed to her occasional closed off phases, so they had let her be.

She'd started the week with a heavy heart.

The weekend with Rose didn't go well. She refused to blow the candle on her cake or let Bella sing happy birthday to her and didn't even look at the presents Bella had brought. So, after Rose was asleep under the heavier dose of medication, Bella held her hand and sang the Happy Birthday song in a shaky whisper. The lone candle she placed on Rose's cake went out by a drop of water from her own eyes. Tracy, the elderly nurse, tried to console Bella but she also knew it could be the last birthday Rose will have.

There's also the mysterious Edward Cullen. The way he talked through most of their conversation presented him as an arrogant ass. But those few seconds of playfulness they shared were also real. Bella still vacillates between anger and confusion whenever she thinks about his parting words… like she knew what he was trying to say, but couldn't exactly put her finger on it.

Then his voice! There was something in it that made her shiver simply by thinking about it in the darkness of her bedroom.

Successfully hiding what's going on inside her head has never been her forte. Any inner turmoil always makes her feel vulnerable, and she hates how easily it shows on her face. To disguise that, tonight, she has graciously used her rarely-touched make-up kit. Putting on a confident and somewhat intimidating mask makes her feel untouchable and unaffected by prying she doesn't know is that it has the reverse effect on the opposite sex. Men see the alluring smokey eyes and her graceful neck as a sign of seduction, not recognizing the pain behind those brown irises or the weight life has put on her delicate, yet strong shoulders.

To make matters even more difficult, the handsome man with most beautiful green eyes she had seen months ago is here tonight. Jessica has been talking to him and a couple she hasn't seen before for a while now… It looks like they are old friends and are having a good time at the corner table. Even Sibby has been chatting with them.

 _I can ask Jess about Mr. Handsome later… or maybe that's a bad idea_ , Bella muses.

She glances towards them periodically—or at the green-eyed man, to be specific. Most of the time, she meets said pair of eyes, as they have been trained similarly on her. She hopes that he can't see her blush from the distance. That would be mortifying. For once, she is thankful for the long bar counter in Bronko's. She keeps herself busy with the handful of customers on her side and tries to act ignorant.

She turns to get a bottle of wine and rises on her tiptoes to reach the shelf above her head when a familiar voice stops her mid-action.

"Still chasing the lost game, Miss Swan?"

Bella freezes for a second, then whirls around…only to come face to face with the man who has visited her dreams many times in the past few months.

For more than a few seconds, they just stare at each other—Edward trying to keep his smug, confident look intact and Bella trying to keep her erratic heartbeat and emotions in check.

She breaks the silence first. "Excuse me? What did you just say?"

Edward hesitates for a second and then goes for the approach he has decided. Even without Jessica or Siobhan's warning, something tells him that he needs to be honest with Bella or he will be the lost game this time.

"Edward Cullen. We talked on the phone?" He extends a hand towards her.

As soon as the words leave his mouth, a rush of blood paints her face a lovely shade of pink, but the sudden stiffness in her shoulders is impossible to miss. She doesn't take his proffered hand, and after a few seconds, he lowers it to the counter between them.

"Bella, I came to apologize," he tries again.

"Isabella."

"Huh?"

"Only my friends call me Bella, Mr. Cullen."

 _Shit! She is shutting me off already,_ Edward thinks, panicked.

"Oh! Yes. Sorry. Isabella it is."

"That's right. And you came to apologize. Why?"

"For the way I talked to you and then hung up on you. That was rude and totally uncalled for. I'm sorry." Bella hears sincerity in his voice, but his eyes are guarded. She senses that he's holding something back.

"Tell me, Mr. Cullen, do you hunt down every person you behave rudely with to say sorry?" Bitter sarcasm laces her tone as a storm of varied emotions brews inside her.

 _Damn! She doesn't take shit and is even more beautiful up close!_ Edward reflects while trying to come up with a reply that'll help him shift the conversation to a safer ground.

"It's not that I am generally a rude person, Isabella. My mother taught me better than that. I acted badly towards you, and as I had the means to know where to find you, I came to say sorry. It's just that I was caught off guard." Edward tries to be as honest as possible without revealing the whole truth, which he knows he'll have to do before he loses his chance and Bella shows him the door. However, considering the way this conversation is going, his gut feeling says that might just turn out to be the case.

"What caught you off guard?"

"Uh…because you dialled my number?"

"So you are telling me that no one dials your number?" She arches an eyebrow.

"Shit! No, no. That's not what I meant," Edward says with a nervous chuckle.

"Try again, Mr. Cullen."She crosses her arms over her chest.

As they talk, some part of Bella's mind is surprised at the way she manages to remain composed without giving away the flutter in her stomach, but her past has taught her not to let her guard down easily. Recent events with Mike have strengthened that resolve more than ever. Edward Cullen is a rude asshole who doesn't deserve to see the effect he has on her, because his beauty is only skin deep.

"Well, for starters, it's not an everyday occurrence that people, especially a beautiful bartender calls me and asks for Mike Newton." He smiles a crooked grin that makes his face look boyish and mischievous.

Bella digs her nails into her palm to maintain a stern face.

"And?"

"And when that beautiful lady claims to be none other than Isabella Swan from Bronko's, how could I not be caught off-guard?" He smirks, which irritates Bella because she isn't ready to marvel at the charms of this beautiful man.

"Really? What's so special about Isabella Swan from Bronko's?" Her voice is sharp and her eyes grow harder.

 _Everything_ , he says silently.

"And what's with this cryptic _lost game_ reference?" she continues before he can reply. "Feels like I know it from somewhere, but can't catch the meaning of it."

"I'd apologize for one more thing, but I'm not actually sorry about it. Because that's what has brought me here."

Lips pressed tightly in a thin line, Bella tilts her head and waits silently for him to explain. She is thankful that Jessica and the other bartender have had the good sense to guide the patrons away from her side, because this is not a conversation she'd want anyone to overhear.

 _This is not going how I thought it would! Oh well, I didn't even think it would go anywhere for that matter._ Edward draws a deep breath and launches into his confession, all the while preparing himself for the "fuck off" that is likely to be on the tip of her tongue.

"Look, I was here the night Mike Newton gave you his phone number on that damn coaster. I didn't know his name, though. You didn't pay any attention to it, so he left it on the counter and went to sit on the corner table. I got a good look at it then. It was either a weird coincidence or fate that the number written on that was the same as mine, except the last two digits. But the awful, tiny heart signs had irritated me the most." His face scrunches in disgust, and Bella tried to ignore how adorable he looks in that moment. "So I wrote that line. It refers to the game of tennis. They call zero as _love_. Like instead of fifteen to zero, they call it fifteen-love. You shouldn't settle for a man who equals his love with zeros."

Her eyes widens as soon as the words leave his mouth. _He shouldn't know that! He shouldn't know how actually she_ had _settled for Mike. But how dare he tell her what she should or shouldn't do?_

Unaware of Bella's mounting ire, Edward finishes his explanation with the hope of securing a second chance with her, a better one, of course.

"So...yeah! That's about it. I knew who you were when you told about the name of the bar and the coaster. I shouldn't have been rude to you, though. Again, I'm very sorry for that."

For a few immeasurable moments, Bella just stares at him. Edward Cullen is breathtaking in his open honesty, and she is angry at herself for liking it a bit too much. He holds her eyes steadily, hoping she can see that he has nothing but respectable intentions towards her.

 _If you can call the desire raving in your veins respectable, Cullen,_ a voice echoes inside his head.

Then, abruptly, she breaks the eye contact and turns back to get the bottle of wine from the upper shelf as she was doing before he interrupted. Edward stands there, confused, as she turns back and starts walking away.

"Isabella?" he calls after her.

"Oh, I'm sorry! Can I get you something or have you already placed your order with Jess?" she asks without any hint of emotion in her voice. Even the anger is now gone.

"No, thank you. I don't want a drink. But are we okay here? I mean after what I told you, are you still mad at me?" Edward asks. His hand rubs the back of his neck and tugs at his earlobe in nervousness.

A thin line appears on her brow, and she smiles strangely.

"First of all, there's no _we._ So there's nothing wrong for you to make right. That brings us to the next part of your question. I don't have any reason to get mad at you, Mr. Cullen. I am a bartender and getting hit on by patrons comes as a part of my job. It's rather chivalrous of you two to write on a coaster instead of my boobs." She pauses to draw in a lungful of air and exhales slowly, while Edward tries to figure out the abrupt change in her behaviour. "However, I shouldn't have called random numbers to get hold of Mike. It's my fault that I disrupted your schedule that day and compelled you to be rude. So you don't need to worry about me getting mad at anything. Have a nice evening, Sir."

With that, she walks away, leaving him speechless.

* * *

 **I said this will be a weekly affair but I don't know! They might want to talk to you more than once in a week? They don't always listen to me ;)**


	3. Where Dreams Become Walls

**A/N : ForeverRobsessed is my hero :) She keeps my words and these people, especially Jessica, in check. That being said, SM owns all the characters I just make them do crazy stuff!**

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Where Dreams Become Walls**

 _ ***What should be a regular Saturday for her***_

A feather-light touch ghosts over her closed eyelids, followed by warm, tingling whispers. It caresses her face, circles her lips, making them part slightly, trails down to the crook of her neck and pauses. The warm touch becomes a little moist and awakens tiny goose bumps in its wake. It draws a series of softly punctuated nips along her collarbone. A fingertip starts tracing the outline of her breast, causing the pink tips to harden. The whispery words are not clear to her sleep-clouded mind as it explores the valley between her soft mounds, but the sensation travels through her body, causing her toes to curl and uncurl.

 _Isabella_ , a husky voice murmurs.

More fingers and a palm join the journey to caress her breasts so softly, leaving her aching for more. As the warm, wet heat nudges her ear, following it up with a bite on the lobe, she arches her back to seek more pressure from the hand gently rubbing and kneading her flesh.

 _So responsive. So beautiful_ , a velvety voice whispers in her ear and another hand reaches the place where she is throbbing with need. Her breathing quickens and suddenly, she longs for more friction. She doesn't want soft or gentle anymore. A fire starts to flicker through her pulse points, and her body feels like it's ready to fly. But the touch starts to fade as the sleepy mist leaves her body.

 _No! Please don't stop!_

Desperate to reach the point of free falling, Bella cries out, only to jerk awake. She finds her comforter thrown off the bed and one of her hands clutching the bed sheet in knots, while the other one lies between her legs. Embarrassment and anger rush through her instantly. Being a single red-blooded woman, self-pleasuring isn't something she is ashamed of, but for the past couple weeks, it has become unfulfilling. She hates to carry this puzzling dissatisfaction within her.

Ever since she encountered those pair of sage green eyes months ago, her dreams have frequently been full of them, even if it was Mike snoring beside her. However, after having been in close proximity of Edward Cullen two weeks ago, her dreams have become more vivid, but always incomplete. Though she never sees his entire face, an exploring hand, a woodsy smell, a husky voice, and the glimpses of a pair of smouldering eyes leave her quivering with need. Her own touch feels wrong to her skin.

 _Damn you, Edward Cullen!_

After she walked away from him, Siobhan found her in the storage room where she was trying to calm her erratic heart. No one asked for an explanation she wasn't sure she could've given when she returned to the bar, and Edward Cullen was nowhere to be seen. The couple chatting with Jess, Sibby and Edward left a short while after. Bella thought she had been successful in putting a stop to any further visits from Mr. Cullen.

But she was wrong.

Edward has returned to the pub four times since that day, but has kept his distance. He took a table instead of sitting at the bar and deliberately ordered his drink from one of the male bartenders. The whole time he stayed there, Bella felt his eyes caressing her, but was never able to catch him staring directly…except for the moments right before he left. Every time, Edward would stop in front of the door, turn and wait to catch her eyes. He'd stare at her with undisguised longing for a few seconds. Then, with a resigned nod, eyes lowered in disappointment, he'd turn and walk away, disappearing in the darkness outside.

After the second time, Bella has started to anticipate his visit, though she refused to admit that to herself. She is still irritated for his assumptions—albeit, correct—about her settling for Mike. No matter how much she secretly enjoys Edward's attention, she isn't ready to give in yet. She doesn't even know what he wants from her—a substantial relationship or a no-strings-attached romp, like Mike had sought. The first option scares her and the second one is out of consideration. She is not that girl. Mike was a mistake, a momentary lapse of judgment.

So they have had this silent exchange going on for the last two weeks, and neither of them has any idea how to proceed from here on. Considering the dreams, her subconscious definitely tells her to comply with them, but that's what they are, dreams. Unfulfilling, making her ache for more than just a physical connection, but dreams nonetheless.

The effects of her dreams generally linger in her subconscious through the day. This Saturday, however, a weird sense of being followed overpowers that feeling as she drives to the Cancer Center in FMC for her weekly visit to Rose. The inconspicuous black SUV that stays a few cars behind her doesn't do anything suspicious, but she feels uncomfortable whenever it appears in her rear view mirror. When she pulls into the hospital parking lot, it drives on without slowing down. Bella still waits in the car for a moment to see if it comes back.

 _I must be going out of my mind._

Shaking her head, she leaves the car and soon finds herself gazing down at her sleeping friend. Rose's condition is deteriorating faster than she'd expected. Her last chemotherapy session was a month ago, but the results have not been very positive. What started as a sign of severe anaemia is now causing her friend to fade away in front of her eyes. Tears stream down Bella's cheeks as she stands there, holding a corner of Rose's pale green hospital gown, afraid to touch and wake her from this illusion of peace she gets only in sleep.

She feels so lost these days. Rose has been her rock since kindergarten. Always sassy, but with a heart of gold, and fiercely protective of the people she loves, never showing a sign of weakness even if the pain was tearing her apart on the inside. She fought hard to achieve a respectable position in a marketing firm, which still remains a man's world. The fat bank balance and her health insurance helped her to get the best treatment available, but man's limited power against nature's course was tested and proved correct once again. Initially, she had been back and forth between the hospital and her home several times, but for the past two months, the private room in FMC has become her home. She isn't responding to anything anymore. Her once thick, golden locks are gone. Cheekbones protrude from the hollow of her face, dark circles cover the once bright blue eyes. Visions of Rose in gorgeous dresses, full of life and turning heads everywhere she went float in Bella's mind, and she can't imagine her life without Rose in it.

Bella's father died a couple of years ago in an accident while fishing, and she never knew where her mother was. Renee Swan had always been just a name in her birth certificate. Her dad, Charlie never disclosed much except that she had to go away when Bella was 8 months old. After a few years, it didn't matter because Bella had a very strong bond with her father. Charlie did his best to raise a girl on his own, and Bella never had any complaints. Rose came from a set of divorced parents, neither of whom bothered to pay attention to her after she graduated from high school. She had been merely a baton for their custody battle before that. When she resigned from her job and checked herself into the hospital, she legally appointed Bella as the sole decision maker regarding her treatment. Bella knows if there were any alternatives, Rose would have spared her this pain too, as she did to Emmett. Sometimes, Bella regrets her promise to Rose about not telling Em the truth. He would be the only one to understand and share her grief over Rose's condition. Bella is scared for herself. For the first time in her life, she is standing at a point from where she is going to be truly alone.

Rosalie wakes up an hour later, but is too tired to sit up. The warm smile that breaks out on her tired face makes Bella grin, too. Without preamble, Rose demands to know what the situation with _Mr. Green Eyes_ is. Bella rolls her eyes at the silly nickname and tries to ask her about how she is feeling instead, but Rose is having none of it.

"I'm still alive or you would have been writing my eulogy," she brushes Bella off. "By the way, don't write any bullshit note for me. You know how I was. Other people don't need to shed fake tears and dress in their best black outfits. Just drink tequila in my name and be done with it." She winks at her friend, who is now trying to stop her own tears from falling.

" _What about someone who doesn't have fake tears for you… who loves tequila just as much as you do and, just like me, doesn't want to be done with you?"_

The thought comes out of nowhere to Bella's mind. They never talk about Emmett because Bella knows that was the most painful thing Rose has ever endured, much more than what the disease inflicts on her.

"Come on, Bell. Tell me! Let me live vicariously through you even if your love life is no better than mine at this moment," Rose jokes feebly.

"Why, thank you, Miss Hale." Bella grimaces, but as always, she tells her all about Edward's visits to the pub.

"And?" Rose narrows her eyes at her.

"And what? That's all! I'm not hiding anything."

"There! You said the word, that means you _are_ hiding something. You have always been the worst liar in the world, sweetie. Now spill!"

Covering her eyes with her hands, Bella groans in defeat. She has never been capable of hiding anything from Rose, and she can still see through her attempts to lie. Without looking at Rose, she stammers out the edited versions of her dreams.

"Hmmm. I'm sure you are giving me the PG rated version, but that's okay." Rose smiles cheekily, but her tired eyes become serious.

"What's holding you back from talking to him, Bell?" There's a rare streak of soft affection in her voice. "Don't compare one person to another. Everyone is different and you don't make the same mistake twice. You told me that he seems honest. Why not give him a chance? Give yourself a chance? I hate that all you do is study and work. With me stuck in here, I know you don't go out anymore either. Why are you settling for something that only makes you lonely? Weren't you a believer of someone's-there-for-everyone?" Rose starts panting slightly at the end of her long speech.

The sound of her laboured breathing fills the silence of the room for the next few minutes. Bella gets Rose a cup of water and helps her take a few sips. Rose requests her assistance in elevating her bed a little, and after getting repositioned against the pillows, she looks expectantly at Bella.

Bella sighs and tries to choose her words carefully. She doesn't want to argue and get Rose agitated, but it's hard to hold her tongue when the emotions are battling so hard inside her.

"Well, first of all, what's with people thinking that I'm _settling_ for something? Why can't they accept that it's my choice, not a compromise? I'm happy with my life. I don't want to sound insensitive and I'm your best friend so I am always on your side, but Rose, you pushed Emmett away and _settle_ d to fight this alone. You never gave him a chance."

Bella feels bad as soon as the words leave her mouth, but Rose's reaction stops her from apologizing right away. She doesn't look angry or hurt. Rose just turns her head towards the window. After a few silent beats of their hearts, she reaches her hand out without looking in Bella's direction, who grips it in both of hers.

"Don't make the mistake I did, Bella," she whispers as a lone tear trickles down her hollow cheeks.

Bella stands and leans over the bed to hug her friend as tightly she can while her own tears flow unchecked. She places her cheek over Rose's shaved head and just holds her. Eventually, Rose falls asleep again and doesn't wake up for the remaining part of the visiting hours.

With a heavy heart and a kiss on her friend's forehead, Bella leaves the hospital and drives straight to the library of the University of Calgary. It has been a rare few days of August without rain. The effects of the unpredictable climate change around the globe can be seen here, too. But the clear sky and crisp weather don't attract Bella today. Under different circumstances, she would've taken a stroll in a nearby park, but today, she needs to be away from people for a while. It's not likely that she'd be able to concentrate on the pages today, but the calm and quiet of the library in a weekend will serve the purpose.

She didn't go straight to college after graduating high school, but worked several odd jobs for a few years to accumulate the funds for college so that she would have less student loans to repay later. Rose had forced Bella to stay with her and refused to take money for it. "My gran would've put you over her knees if she knew you wanted to pay," had been her logic. So Bella stayed with her in the apartment Rose had inherited from her grandmother.

 _She'll have to search a place to live soon._

Now at 24, Bella is a few years older than her peers in her English major class, though there are a few people even older than her in the Museum and Heritage Studies minor program. She is cordial to all, but there's no one she can call a friend. Still, when a couple of familiar faces greet her in the library on this Saturday afternoon, she feels relieved to have some company.

The strange feeling of being followed returns as she drives to the Bronko's for her evening shift. She checks her rear view mirror frequently for a black SUV, but doesn't find it. Her evening progresses with an increasing restlessness. The steady flow of the usual Saturday night crowd keeps her busy, but some part of her subconscious remains aware and alert, seeking a head full of bronze hair. It has been five days Edward last visited, and she realizes she is missing his presence.

 _Damn Rose and her words!_

Edward doesn't come that night.

Liam never lets the girls stay late for closing up; he does it himself. So, after waving Jessica goodbye from a distance—who appears to be busy flirting with one of the waiters—Bella drags her tired feet and a heavy heart to her car. The parking lot is mostly empty, but the _Employees Only_ section at the far end still has several cars parked there. As she nears her car, a figure leaning against the side of it straightens.

"Hello, Isabella."

 _ ***What should be a regular Saturday for him***_

 _Shit! I'm gonna miss her today. Fucking road construction. They have been at it for weeks. She'll be gone by the time I get there._ Edward slams his palm against the steering wheel.

He hates to work on weekends. It's not as if he has someone special to spend them with, but he likes to have the days free. When he was still in Vancouver, Sunday brunch was a regular thing at his parents' house. Here, in Calgary, he sometimes goes for a hike in the outskirts of the city or spends his days-off visiting local art galleries. Though he works as a web designer, his fascination with nature and art never leaves him bored in an empty apartment. He has a few friends from work who join him sometimes on the hiking trails or for an occasional beer, but he doesn't mind doing things all by himself either.

Then there's his love for tennis. Being a Canadian, one would expect him to be a fan of either ice hockey or lacrosse, but he inherited his passion from his British mother. Esme Cullen had her son as her fellow audience of every grand slam since he was six years old. Edward grew up watching Pete Sampras and Roger Federer, while Anna Kournikova visited many of his typical teenage dreams. He can recite stats from Carling Bassett -Seguso to Eugenie Bouchard without looking at the figures.

So, while he doesn't lack in activities to pursue in the weekends, sometimes loneliness creeps in through the corner of his mind. Some part of him whispers how it would be more enjoyable to share his love for all those things with someone special. Once in a while, when he comes back to an empty house after a long day at work, he imagines what it would be like to have someone to come home to or wait for someone to come home to him.

However, there's no one to fill that space in his life. He had dated in high school and in college, but in all his 27 years on this earth, he has never felt a pull strong enough to pursue someone for more. One night stands have never been his preferred way to have female company. Though it might sound old-fashioned, he has always been the kind of person who needs a certain level of intimacy before stripping down to skins. His past girlfriends never complained about his sexual ardor, but Edward has always wondered if it will be different when he shares himself with someone he loves.

Sophia, his last girlfriend before he came to Calgary, chats with him on Facebook sometimes, but he doesn't feel any attraction towards her anymore. Their breakup had been mutual and uneventful. Both of them knew there was not enough spark to continue the relationship long distance.

 _Attraction._

He had no idea how deep and overwhelming this feeling could be until a certain Isabella Swan stepped into his life. When she'd brushed him off and walked away that night two weeks ago, he'd left the bar without speaking to anyone. He'd expected to be grilled by Jess, if not by the others, too, after Bella's abrupt retreat. Surprisingly, no one asked anything. At first, he thought about not going back there, _to her_ , anymore. But that only lasted for two days. He has gone back to Bronko's four times in the past seventeen days, but has never once tried to engage her in any sort of conversation. To be specific, he hasn't talked to anyone from the pub since then, and everyone has given him a wide berth.

Edward doesn't know what he'd done to make Bella so hostile towards him, but he isn't a man to force anything on a woman or any person for that matter. He waits for her to come to him, though he doesn't know if that is ever going to happen. Without acting like a stalker, he tries to communicate his silent longing to her, but he hasn't received any hint of reciprocation from her yet. It doesn't escape his notice that from a third person's point of view, he might look like a pathetic loser. At the same time, he can't deny the inexplicable pull that makes him go back to her. She doesn't have the perfect figure of a model, but the curves of her body drive him crazy with an unstoppable desire to touch her. What makes her irresistible to Edward are her distinct features. The smirk playing on her lips when she enjoys an inside joke with Jess, the curve of her eyebrow when she puts a wilder patron in his place without being rude, the happy twinkle in her eyes when she talks to the regular older gentlemen, the swift movement of her limbs when she serves the tables around the floor—it's the little things that make her sexy in his eyes.

At the moment, he finds himself growing more and more pissed with every passing second that he's trapped in this car. Every day this week, he had to work late and was too exhausted to go anywhere except home. He'd thought he would be free by seven tonight, but a high profile client often has the power to ruin any personal plans the employees of a private firm might have. The meeting went on until 10 PM, and though his boss has given him Monday off, that won't make up for another day of not seeing Bella. Thanks to the city's impeccable public service maintenance, it will take him even longer to reach 16 Ave.

When he pulls into the almost-empty parking lot of the pub, the first thing he confirms is that Bella's car is still there. This also brings the person in question within his view. Shoulders slumped as though she were carrying all the weight of the world on them, eyes fixed in front of her feet, her gait is tired as she drags herself towards her car at the very end of the lot where the employees park their car. Stepping out of his car, Edward watches her walking away again, and a slow ache starts building in his chest. He silently mourns another day of lost chance. The breath he hasn't realized he was holding comes out in a long sigh.

Then, something unexpected happens.

A shadow moves in the darkness and Bella stops dead in her tracks. The tall figure steps closer to her, but she doesn't move an inch. Before he realizes what he is doing, Edward finds himself running across the lot.

 _Consequence be damned, nothing will happen to her while I'm here._ That is the only thought that runs through his head as he rushes towards his girl.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading. Until next time...**


	4. Breaks in the Armour

**A/N: Sorry about leaving you all in the dark parking lot! But writing a tiny cliffie is a box you should tick, right?**

 **ForeverRobsessed has a magical red pen that makes everything perfect. Love you to pieces, girlfriend!**

 ***SM is the woman who owns Twilight, I just played a little with her characters.**

* * *

 **Chapter 4: Breaks in the Armour**

 _ ***The Dark Corner of the Parking Lot #1**_

" _Hello, Isabella."_

The dark figure takes a step closer, but Bella's brain has already stopped sending signals to her feet. She remains frozen—heart pounding erratically, gasping breaths, and wide eyes unmoving.

This voice is the last thing she had expected to hear again.

The person moves to stand directly in front of her, a set of fierce blue-gray eyes glaring at her in the dim light of the parking lot.

"Emmett!" A choked whisper comes out as she staggers a backward step.

Two things happen at once then. Emmett reaches out to steady her, but a pair of hands encircle Bella's waist before that happens.

"Hey! Back off!"

Swiftly yet gently, the arms drag Bella a couple of feet away from Emmett before she realizes what's happening or she can protest.

"Shhh... I've got you, Isabella." Even in a situation like this, his voice causes a shiver run through her spine, and Bella comes out of the shock. Turning around in Edward's arms, she looks up at him, eyes wide with a myriad of conflicting emotions. Shock, pain, relief are some of them that Edward can decipher. His arms maintain their hold around her as they stand unmoving for a few seconds, before a throat clearing breaks whatever spell they had fallen under.

"Isabella, don't..." Edward starts as she begins to turn again, but Bella puts one hand on his chest and her eyes plead with him to let her go. There's no anger in her gesture, and he can see that she doesn't intend to push him away. It's nothing but a silent request which Edward cannot refuse.

"Emmett." Her voice trembles a little as she faces the burly man who sends a curious glance towards Edward. "What are you doing here? How did you find me?"

"Nice to see you too, Bella. At least you haven't forgotten me," Emmett replies sarcastically, stepping closer.

Unable to form an appropriate reply, Bella swallows the lump in her throat. She can feel the hurt and fury rolling off Emmett in waves. The emotional stress of this bizarre day threatens to crush her as she struggles to hold back her own tears.

"You know I'm not the one to blame for what happened," she tries to say meekly.

"That's bullshit and you know it!" Emmett shoots back, causing Bella to flinch. "You knew everything and you didn't tell me," he continues in a low but fierce tone. "Imagine my surprise when I found Riley with his _boyfriend_ vacationing in BC. He wouldn't tell me the truth, and I couldn't force him because he wasn't my friend. He doesn't owe me anything."

"It wasn't my decision to make." Bella tries to stay calm, but Emmett is having none of it.

"Decision? I don't give a fuck about whose decision it was. What did your conscience tell you, Bella? Where did your ever-present sense of right and wrong go? Or do you mould that according to your friend's irresponsible way of playing with people's lives? Huh?" He is breathing heavily by now and barely holding his emotions from rolling down his cheeks. He shakes his head and turns his back to them. Banging his fist a couple of times on the side of the car, he groans loudly.

Bella covers her mouth with one hand to hold back a sob. She blindly reaches the other behind her, and Edward grabs it in one of his as if it's the most natural thing in the world. This isn't how he has imagined touching her for the first time, but it's not something to ponder over in that moment. He can sense that the man in front of them is not a threat to Bella, but he definitely upsets her. He can feel the pounding of Bella's heart as her body leans against his. Unable to do anything else and despite the awkward position they are standing in, he interlaces his fingers with hers and tries to provide comfort through that touch.

After a few long moments, Emmett slowly turns to face them again, and what Bella sees in his anguished eyes makes her tears finally spill.

"Why, Bella? Why? I thought that I was your friend, too. Why didn't you tell me anything?" There is more pain than accusation in his words. The angry man from before has been replaced by a defeated one now.

"I couldn't, Em. I couldn't. She made me promise, and I can never say no to her. You know that I can't." Bella weeps uncontrollably. This time Edward doesn't hesitate. He lets go of her hand and wraps an arm around her. The difference between their heights brings her head near his shoulder, and Edward can't help but think how perfectly she fits there.

Emmett rubs his hands over his eyes and grips his hair tightly. Helplessness prevails on his face, and he stares at Bella with vacant eyes for a while before determination appears in them.

"I need to talk to her," he speaks rapidly, but resolutely. "I know it has nothing to do with her _cheating_ or not wanting me. It is something else, something dreadful. I followed you today and didn't get a glimpse of her. That one place I saw you going makes me scared in the worst possible way, but I'm ready to face it. I won't force you to break your promise, but just show me the way to reach her. I can't live with the lies that my heart refuses to accept. Please, Bella, please," he begs, grabbing one of her hands.

"Oh, Emmett!" Bella breathes, her resolve crumbling under the burden of grief and loss that has consumed him. This man…pleading and begging for a chance that will eventually lead him to a greater pain. Up until now, she hasn't understood the depth of Emmett's feelings for Rose, and though she'll always stand by her best friend, Bella's heart breaks for the man who is on the verge of losing the best thing that has ever happened to him. Rosalie's face when she'd admitted her mistake for letting Emmett go earlier today, haunts Bella as she places a comforting hand on Emmett's massive forearm.

"Meet me at the entrance of FMC tomorrow morning at nine," is all she says. Emmett squeezes his eyes shut, his grip on Bella's hand almost choking the blood circulation.

"Thank you," he whispers after a moment, and without sparing her another glance, he walks away quickly.

Surprising both of them, Bella turns and buries herself in Edward's chest, as a fresh round of grief tears through her body.

 _ ***The Dark Corner of the Parking Lot #2**_

If his hands weren't wrapped around Isabella, Edward Cullen might have pinched himself hard to check if he was dreaming. The girl nestled against him has become a big part of his dreams lately. So regardless of the reason behind her action,

he just tightens his hold on her and sways gently. Her uninhibited surrender is both surprising and overwhelming for him, but he recognizes her need for comfort nonetheless.

 _Such a beautiful, mysterious girl_.

None of them notices Liam retreating from where he had stopped earlier. A new server had been coming towards the parking lot when Emmett had emerged from the shadows. He'd gone back to get Liam, and they were about halfway to reach the scene when Emmett left and Bella broke down in Edward's embrace. Liam observes the scene curiously for a few moments before returning to the pub, but continues to keep a watchful eye through the glass window out back.

The sound of a car starting nearby suddenly makes Bella go rigid. Using the last drop of energy left, she loosens her grasp on his shirt, picks her head from where it has been perfectly tucked under Edward's chin and tries to untangle herself from his embrace. But Edward doesn't let her go completely. Gently cradling her face in his palms, he waits until she looks up.

The lost look on her face ignites something inside him. This is so much more than mere attraction. This is the heart finding a purpose. A purpose to share one's burdens and finding happiness together. Edward doesn't possess the eternal male mentality of "saving the girl," but secretly believes in the strength of the soul's other half. A true partnership in every way possible, where one makes up for the other's inadequacy and nurtures their inner potential to its fullest. He still doesn't know anything about Isabella Swan's past, present, or everyday life, but a voice inside his head tells him their purposes aren't very different. An urge to take a chance on sharing that purpose, that partnership with her, starts growing in his pounding heart.

"Before you bolt again, Isabella, let me tell you something."

His words stop Bella from doing exactly that. Muttering an apology and running away are the only ways she can think of to save herself from the embarrassment. God forbid he thinks of her as one of those desperate girls playing the role of a damsel in distress to catch good-looking guys. However, his next words, punctuated by the mischievous look in his eyes, halt that train of thought altogether.

"Looks like you only communicate with me when one bad guy or another is involved. So if you want I can be the bad guy, not the hero." He quirks an eyebrow suggestively at her.

Bella gapes at him. She hasn't expected this. The lightness of Edward's words cuts through the heaviness surrounding them a little.

"Um… Emmett isn't the bad guy," she mumbles. The corner of his mouth twitches a little, and Bella notices how that smirk adds an irresistible devilish look to his already gorgeous face. Blushing to the roots of her hair, she tries to avert her eyes, and the air around them shifts again. All the playfulness leaves Edward as he strokes his thumbs lightly over the apple of her cheeks.

"Neither am I, Isabella," he says quietly. The undeniable sincerity in his voice captivates Bella like a moth to a flame.

"I know it's probably not the most appropriate moment because clearly, you have more serious matters to deal with than this, but Isabella, I'm too much of a selfish man to let the opportunity pass."

"What are you saying, Mr. Cullen? I don't understand."

Dropping his hands, he shoves them in his trouser pockets. "I apologize again, and I will do it until you forgive me, but it was not my intention to insult or hurt you. I was rude to you over the phone and if you'll let me, one day I will try to explain the reason behind my behaviour. But for now, Isabella, can we at least work together towards that day?"

"Bella."

"Sorry?" Confusion is clear in his question, as he tilts his head to the right.

"Bella," she repeats. "My friends call me Bella, Mr. Cullen."

"And my friends call me Edward. But I won't call you Bella," he tells her with a glint in his eyes.

"No?" she asks.

Looking intently into her eyes, he shakes his head slowly. "No. Because I can't be just a friend to you."

Goosebumps form over her neck and collarbone when his warm breath fans over her skin, but she ignores it, drawing back a little to look up at him.

"We might not know each other yet, but that can be solved easily. I'd like us to know each other better so that you can give me a chance to be more than your friend," he finishes with a conviction that begs Bella to believe him. However, reason and emotion haven't stopped warring in her mind yet. So she remains quiet.

"I'm not a person who would force anyone into anything, Isabella. I will respect your decision if you wish to be nothing more than my friend, but I don't think I can reciprocate the feeling. I already want more than friendship with you. As I said before, I know it's very inconsiderate of me to put pressure on you at this moment. I apologize for that. I just want to put my intentions on the table and let you decide." Though his words are calm and collected, his expression is anything but.

When Bella doesn't say anything for a long time, he sighs and takes a few backward steps. Dejected and resigned, he is just about to turn away when she finally speaks.

"Are you free tomorrow? Can you meet me somewhere in the afternoon?"

Edward bites his lower lip, trying to stifle the hope that rises deep within him at her words.

"I can't decide anything about us until you know what you are getting yourself into. I'm not an average girl with an easy life. Though I'm not ashamed about it, it could be too much for you," she explains. "So I want you to know it all and then decide. Can you do that, please?"

There is no bitterness or anger in her tone, just a plea for him to understand her point. Edward has no replies other than an affirmative to that. He closes the gap between them in two quick strides. Raising his right hand, he brushes two fingers over the soft skin of her left cheek. His eyes follow the same path while his fingertips come to rest on her chin.

"Tell me the time and place. I'll be there." His words make her release the breath she had been holding.

"I'll call you. Around 11?"

He nods once, then hesitates.

"What is it? We can meet another time if it's..."

"No! It's not that," Edward cuts her off mid-sentence. "Will you be alright to drive home? It's late, and with what just happened…" he trails off, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Oh! Oh, yes. Yeah, sure," Bella stammers, surprised at the unexpected caring gesture, and chastises her heart for beating so fast.

He remains rooted to the spot, while she unlocks her truck and climbs inside. Shifting the gear, she carefully manoeuvres the vehicle around him and then stops.

She rolls the window down and pokes her head out, smiling timidly at him.

"Good night, Mr. Cullen."

"Good night, Isabella. I'll wait for your call." Unable to resist the urge to tease her and end things on a lighter note, he throws her a saucy wink and adds, "Just dial the right number this time."

The blush that blooms on her face stays there even after she is under her blanket later that night.

* * *

 **So… they are trying to move forward, right? Thank you for reading.**


	5. Strong as Concrete, Soft as Green Fields

**A/N: Thank you so much for all your lovely reviews. You are the best readers in the world.**

 **Endless thanks to ForeverRobsessed for her amazing talent, never ending patience and unwavering support. You rock, girl!**

 **Special appreciation to the amazing writers on Pinterest, who remain nameless and faceless, but leave me awestruck with their brilliant, short poems and one-liners. I have Edward using one of those here and the credit to that beautiful thought is not mine.**

 ***I do not own Twilight, that's all SM.**

* * *

 **Chapter 5: Strong as the Concrete, Soft as the Green Fields**

 _Natural._

That's the first word to pop in Edward's mind when he finds Bella sitting on the secluded wooden bench near the little pond. So far, they have seen each other only under the artificial lights of the pub and in the semi-darkened area of the parking lot last night. Here in the campus of the University of Calgary on a Sunday, out in the open sunlight, she looks like a part of the natural beauty around them. Her long, mahogany hair is tied in a loose braid. Swayed by the gentle breeze, a few escaped strands caress her cheeks and neck. There's not a trace of makeup on her face today. She looks like she has just stepped out of an Iman Maleki's painting—where human figures are embellished with a unique blend of photographic precision and artistic rendition. They enrapture your senses, yet stay just out of your grasp.

When Bella called him to meet her on the campus, he wasn't surprised about the location she chose because it was not very far from where she had asked Emmett to meet her in the morning. After what he had seen and heard last night, Edward was actually surprised that she'd wanted to meet him today. The combination of Emmett, Bella's mysterious friend, and Foothill Medical Center indicated an emotional day for her. He's yet to know the details of her troubles, but he is a perceptive man. It had to be something monumental for her to break down like that. The girl he had come to know from afar was always in control of her emotions. After weeks of giving him a cold shoulder, what had made her cling to him—a virtual stranger—still remains a mystery, but he couldn't be happier about the outcome.

He drives to the campus and reaches there around 2 pm, as they had agreed earlier on the phone. When he stands in front of her with two Starbucks caffè-lattes, Bella tilts her head up to smile at him. The wariness that usually veils her eyes was absent last night, but Edward finds it in spades in her red-rimmed irises today.

"Hello, Isabella." His smile is warm like the rays of the sun, and she marvels at the comfort that gives her.

 _Don't get ahead of yourself, Bella. You don't know him, and he could be another Mike._

It could have been the shock of Emmett's appearance or the emotional turmoil of yesterday, but last night, she acted out of character by letting Edward comfort her in a way no man has ever done for her. She won't be letting her guard down completely yet, but she has decided to take a chance with him. And so, ignoring the battle that continues to rage between her heart and her mind, she stands to greet him.

"Mr. Cullen, hi."

"Oh no, no! None of that. It's Edward, please. Mr. Cullen takes me back to the scene where you walk away from me, and I don't want to be there again." Edward grins playfully and hands her the coffee. "I took the liberty of getting you a latte. Hope that's okay?"

"Of course! I prefer Jasmine tea in the morning, but for the rest of the day, coffee it is. Thanks."

"Really? Jasmine tea? That's interesting!" he comments, gesturing for her to sit as he does the same.

"Why do you say so?" Bella asks after a sip.

"Because there's an Indian family that lives a few houses down on my street. They shipped in lots of Jasmine flowers when their daughter got married. I was invited to the ceremony. The bride and the other women used garland-like accessories to style their hair, you know? Dressed up in their traditional outfits with intricate Henna designs on their hands and the white flowers in their dark hair, they looked absolutely gorgeous."

"White? Aren't Jasmine flowers lavender?" Bella has a quizzical look on her face.

"I don't think so. At least they all had them in white." Edward shrugs.

"Well, I always thought they were supposed to be lavender or mauve."

"Do you like mauve?"

"That's my favorite colour, yes."

Edward finds the small talk intriguing because Isabella Swan has amazed him once again. He hasn't expected flowers, favorite colours, or beverage preference to appear in their conversation right away, but the easy progression of their chat pleases him immensely.

On the other end, Bella is also equally surprised. Something about Edward's easy demeanor has taken the edge off, and she finds herself being more spontaneous than she thought she'd ever be. This Edward isn't the breathtakingly handsome, reserved, intense man she has come to know so far. He is open, friendly, and of course, breathtakingly handsome!

She likes this Edward. A lot.

"I'm yet to see you in that colour," he murmurs absently. Averting her eyes, Bella suddenly finds the Starbucks label on her cup very interesting.

A few seconds pass as they sip their coffees, then Edward spreads his arm over the back of the bench and turns to face her.

"So… how was your morning? Are you coming straight from FMC?"

"Uh... no. I went back home around noon. Emmett is going to stay with me for the next week, and I needed to get his room ready, as I will be home late tonight. I also needed to inform our building manager and leave the extra key with him for Emmett. That's why I asked you to come later than I had originally planned. I hope this isn't keeping you from something," she says, sounding a bit apologetic.

"No worries. I'm all yours today." There is no hint of teasing in his words, but Bella feels her cheeks warming nonetheless. However, his next words bring her back to the hard ground of reality.

"If you don't mind me asking, Isabella, who is Emmett?"

Bella has prepared herself for this obvious question and the answer she could give without losing control over her emotions. She didn't think this subject would come up so soon, but Edward doesn't seem to be the kind of person who beats around the bush. Pulling in a deep breath, she angles her body to look straight into Edward's eyes.

"You need to know about someone else before we can talk about Emmett… someone very special to me."

Edward nods and waits without saying anything.

Bella digs out her phone and an envelope from her purse. Opening the envelope first, she hands him an old photograph. "This is Rosalie Hale, my best friend for as long as I can remember. We had just come to the city when this was taken."

In the photograph, nineteen years old Bella and Rosalie are smiling on either side of a Toblerone pyramid they built on a table. More than twenty bars of chocolate were arranged to create the pyramid, and their matching contagious grins make the photograph come alive. Edward finds himself smiling at the two vibrant girls.

Then she pulls up another image, this time on her phone. She leans forward to show it to him.

"This is her, today," she says quietly, while Edward stares at the screen, speechless, brows furrowed, all traces of a smile gone from his face.

A light blue cap covering her head, tubes coming out of her nose, a hospital blanket pulled up to her chest—Rosalie Hale isn't even looking at the camera in this photo. She isn't smiling either. With wide eyes brimming with tears, she is clutching the front of Emmett's shirt in both of her hands. One of Emmett's hands is covering hers on his chest, while the other one is gently cupping her cheek. She is sitting up in the hospital bed, her back supported by pillows, while he sits to one side. The muted light coming through the blinds of the window beside the bed adds to the melancholy emanating from the image.

"I was just about to leave and turned around one last time at the door. It felt like such an intimate, private moment, but I couldn't let it go uncaptured. I don't know if Emmett will want it, but I want to preserve it. To remind myself that true love always finds its way back. Even if you can see the end of your journey, you shouldn't force yourself to part with it." Tears spill down her face, and she doesn't try to wipe them off.

A few minutes pass in silence before Edward touches her shoulder gently. He wipes the tears off her cheeks, and when she glances at him, she doesn't find any pity there. Only sincere curiosity and compassion dominate his handsome features.

His tender expression reminds her of another man. The relationship and circumstances couldn't have been more different than this, but still, memories of her childhood and her father's face swarm her mind. As a child, she had a tendency to hide whatever was hurting her, but she wasn't always successful. It could be a scraped knee or the sadness of not being able to make a Mother's Day card for anyone; she always tried to keep the tears away from Charlie's knowledge. She wanted to be a grown-up so that her father wouldn't have to worry about her. He never treated Bella as a gullible or weak kid, but as a little adult. She has never forgotten the expression Charlie often wore when he looked at her, but she is able to understand it now. It was love, care, helplessness, and pride for his baby girl.

She isn't sure what role Edward will play in her life, but in that moment, her heart realizes one very important thing. Edward Cullen is a kind and good man. A man one can trust as a friend and… maybe even risk trying to be more than that.

"Will you tell me about Rose?" he requests gently.

So she does.

She tells him about their friendship...their journey from the days of kindergarten to how they came to live in the city, describing their living arrangements in the apartment Rose had inherited as well as their respective careers—or lack thereof, in Bella's case. She tells him about Rose's sickness, the absence of her family, her relationship with Emmett, how she had pushed him away all those months ago, and her recent admittance of it being a mistake. Bella doesn't remember when was the last time she had talked so much. She isn't a very talkative person, to begin with, but she realizes now how much she has been missing a companion. Edward doesn't ask many questions, but she can see him absorbing her words with utmost attention, and it secretly pleases her. It's not very easy to find a man who truly wants to listen to your thoughts.

"Wow," he murmurs when she pauses for a while. "Such an unbelievable coincidence for Emmett to reappear yesterday of all days."

"I know, right? That's why I was so shocked to see him. I didn't even know that he had moved to Vancouver."

"Yeah! For a second I thought that I might finally have my first experience of a parking lot scuffle since I missed out on them in high school." The adorable smile that breaks on his face forms little crinkles at the corners of his eyes.

Putting her hand on his forearm, Bella squeezes it lightly. "I haven't thanked you for last night. It was very kind of you to come to my rescue."

"No need…" he trails off as his gaze intensifies on her face. Feeling a bit self- conscious, Bella blurts out the question that has been nagging in the corner of her mind since last night.

"What were you doing there so late, Edward?"

Now it's Edward's turn to avert his eyes as the tip of his ears turn a little pink.

"Uh... I was in huge need for a drink?" He says it like a question rather than a reply.

A hint of a smile tugs at the corner of her mouth, accompanied by a slight lift of her left eyebrow.

"Okay. My meeting ran late, but I hadn't seen you in five days, so I took a chance. Happy now?" He grimaces playfully, but his hand grips hers, which is still resting on his arm.

"Edward," she sighs. "We need to talk about this. I don't want to lead you on without telling you about my limitations to date like a normal girl."

"I don't like the way you keep referring yourself as 'not a normal girl'. I'm getting scared now. Are you gonna tell me next that you're a serial killer?"

Though there is a sign of mischief twinkling in his eyes, Bella can detect the seriousness behind his admonishment, too. He has an ability to lighten a situation without making it seem less important. The more she interacts with this man, the more she feels her attraction towards him intensifying.

"Serial killer? Oh yes, that would have made my dad so proud," she snorts lightly.

"Your dad?'

"Yeah! Charlie Swan was the most law abiding citizen I have ever known," she says fondly as a faraway look comes to her face.

"Was?"

"Yes. He died two years ago."

Edward's grip on her hand tightens a little as he murmurs his sympathy for her loss. A few minutes pass in silence, then Bella asks if he wants to go for a walk, and he agrees readily.

While showing him the buildings where she frequents for her classes, she tells him about her father, the motherless childhood she had, and how her last ties with her hometown are now gone with Charlie. It's as if her mind has decided to open a door long closed and for the first time, Bella doesn't try to close it forcefully. Talking to him feels so natural, so comfortable. She doesn't divulge many details, but gives away enough for him to see the roads she has travelled to reach where she is now.

In the course of their easy-going conversation, Edward also squeezes in some basics about his job and family, which includes the twenty-nine year-long married life of his parents and their courtship before that, a stark opposite of what Bella had known and seen in her family.

"They just gross me out sometimes with their PDA and make me crazy with non-stop bickering at other times. Even after all these years, they certainly know how to keep the fire going." He shakes his head with an indulging grin. "I think they have passed on their ideology against casual relationships to me, and I always felt like a snob in high school. It's completely out of character for me to approach a girl like I did with you." A full-grown nervous chuckle comes out of his lips now.

What Edward fails to notice is the way Bella's hands clench a few times, so he's more than surprised by the abruptness of her next comment.

"Though I didn't have such an honourable example of lasting love between parents in my life, I don't do casual relationships either. Mike was really a mistake, and I blame it on my state of mind at that time. With my father gone and now Rose..." She pauses for a moment. "I treated myself carelessly, and the asshole ruined one of my most treasured things." She presses her lips together in a hard line.

"That moron? Dude can't even hit on a girl properly and expects to hook up with someone like you?" He grimaces for real this time, hoping that Bella will see how stupid Mike really is. He doesn't realize when he touches upon a live wire that had been sitting dormant for a while.

"And you think you do, Mr. Cullen?" she retorts, and Edward immediately sees the defensiveness mounting in her stance. She goes on without giving him a chance to reply. "Oh well, of course, you do! You see a girl easily available even for a stupid man like Mike and decide to try a new approach. Is that what I am… your _casual experiment_?"

"Shit! I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I didn't mean you in particular. I'm not judging you for dating him or whatever it was. It was just an observation. I'm sorry that I've offended you," he rambles on his apologies, but he can see the damage has been done. Bella is visibly annoyed, and he fears the progress they have made is about to get ruined. He has stepped on a sore spot and he needs to fix it now.

They have stopped on a bridge by that point, and the afternoon sun is creating little ripples over the water. But the air between them has become too troubled compared to the serenity of the nature surrounding them.

Gripping her stiff shoulders, he turns her fully toward him and waits until she looks up. "I don't have a habit of picking girls up from bars or anywhere for a fling, Isabella. I'm kind of old-fashioned that way."

"And what habit does that 'old-fashioned way' include? Feeling sorry for poor girls like me and fixing them up? Rescue the damsel in distress and protect them?" Bitterness pours out of her words as they come out through her gritted teeth.

Edward tries with all his might to keep his patient face on, because even though she isn't making much sense with her sudden accusations, in his mind, the puzzle pieces have been finally started to click into place. Under her angry facade, he can see the pain, fear, and uncertainty that surround her everyday life. His respect for this strong woman grows a little more. The fact that she is still letting him touch her in any capacity, also gives him hope.

"Do you really think that's what I was doing? Any of that? Taking advantage of you or trying to fix you?"

When his imploring gaze is met with nothing but silence, he decides to push her a little.

"Isabella Swan, I don't think you're a damsel in distress. Neither do I have any intention of fixing you up. I don't see anything there to _fix_ , to begin with. Yes, you are struggling financially and you are going to be truly alone, which is fucking unfair, but that doesn't make you any less normal than anybody else."

Bella flinches visibly at his brutally honest words. Her eyes sting with the weight of them, the anger leaving her veins slowly. This is new to her, given her limited experience with men. She is used to their sympathy or being taken for granted by them.

"I don't know what kind of men you have previously been with, but it's highly possible that I won't bring any flowers or chocolates to impress you if we date. I might not open the doors for you or pull your chair out all the time. I don't care much about those so-called romantic or chivalrous gestures. Neither do I care about men having more power in a relationship. It's not a business arrangement.

"I don't believe in promising the moon and the stars. I'd rather spread a blanket on the grass and watch them with someone.

"I want to stand below them and find our way together. You don't know if I'd turn out to be the geographically-challenged one in that journey, and _you_ might have to figure out how to get us out of the woods."

His hands slide down her arms slowly before he takes a step back. He leans against the railing, stuffing them in his jacket's pockets, but his eyes never leave her face.

Once again, Bella finds herself helpless against this man. Her heart pounds erratically as the meaning behind his words sets in. He understands her fears, her weakness, and the need to maintain her self-respect, but makes it sound like the most normal thing in the world. How does he do that? He talks as if being in a relationship is as easy as walking the neighbor's dog in the park.

"Trust me! It's not." He smirks.

 _Shit! She has said it aloud._

"No, really. Even families related by blood get strayed if they don't work hard to keep themselves together. It's highly possible that you'll kick me out faster than you've done with any person before. So it's not easy, but that doesn't mean it's not worth the effort."

When she continues to gape at him incredulously, a boyish smile appears on his face.

"But... walking a neighbour's dog in the park _is_ easy!"

"What?" She can't help but smile in return.

"Yeah. I don't have a dog because of my schedule. Any pet of mine would be neglected all week, but my neighbour, Mrs. Harper lets me walk Franklin whenever I get a chance. He is a big fierce-looking English Mastiff, but a softy around kids. He even lets them paint his toenails without protest. You could come with me sometime."

"Are you asking me on a date, Edward Cullen?"

"Are you saying yes, Isabella Swan? Then yes, I'm asking." The handsome devil reappears with the smirk.

"And what if I say no?" Crossing her arms over her chest, she tilts her head and tries to appear stern, but fails miserably.

"Then I'm asking you out on a non-date, to walk my neighbour's dog with me." Mischief flickers in his eyes, betraying the fake formality in his tone. "What do you say, Miss Swan? A date or a non-date?"

* * *

 **So? What do _YOU_ say? A date or a non-date with Edward? Let me know... **


	6. Can't Stop the Feeling

**A/N: Well, Edward was so ready to go out with you all... separately with each one of you, of course! He is such a gentleman that breaking your hearts is a blasphemous task for him. Bella, however, glowered at me and sent the strongest 'stay away' vibe towards you all before stomping away with her man. I take the complete responsibility of this mess and beg for your forgiveness. Cloning an Edward for Alia just went out of the window after that. Sorry, girl!**

 **ForeverRobsessed still helped me out from the grave I dug for myself and made this _date_ or _non-date_ possible. She is the best!**

 ***SM owns everything related to Twilight, I just love lollipops and chatting with old people.**

* * *

 **Chapter 6: Can't Stop the Feeling**

"Well, well… isn't that interesting!"

"What's so interesting, Mr. Cullen?" The words come from his left as the smiling girl plops down beside him.

Looking up from his laptop, Edward finds himself smiling instantly at the sight. Dressed casually in jeans and a shirt, untamed locks falling out of her hair-tie, sunlight glints in the tiny diamonds in her ears and one cheek bulges round, while the thin white stick of the lollipop candy sticks out of the corner of her mouth. Isabella Swan adds one more splash of colour to his life every time she comes to him.

"Oh my God! How many today, Bella?" He starts chuckling as she pokes her red tongue out at him, making her face even more comical. Then she joins him in a silly laugh over how many animated faces she can make with the candy still in her mouth.

"Just three. Louisa was feeling a little down. She caught a cold, and the cough made it hard for her to speak. Poor lady," she informs him once the laughter dies down, the air between them a bit sombre now.

Louisa is one of the old women Bella befriended a few months ago. They are a funny bunch, living in an old age home nearby. She chats with them when they come for a walk in the park near her apartment and always returns with a few candies. The old lady has diabetes and she misses her granddaughter very much, who lives in California. So Bella gets both the affection and the candies Louisa buys, but isn't allowed to eat. By now, Edward knows how much Bella loves listening to old people's tales about their days gone by. "It's like witnessing the time with the true essence of that generation… not just a bunch of information, but real emotions otherwise incomprehensible to us," she would say.

 _He adores the way her eager and compassionate heart sees the world._

"Well, let me see how this one tastes..." He plucks the candy out of her mouth and draws her closer by the collar of her shirt to capture her red, lollipop-flavoured lips. After a few breathless moments, she pulls away first, but doesn't open her eyes. She knows Edward always silently caresses her face with his eyes after a kiss, as if he is seeing her for the first time ever, and she absorbs the affection with every pore.

"Hmmm… raspberry is good, but not better than you," he whispers, cradling her cheek in one hand and rubbing the tip of her nose with his. A flutter appears in her belly that has nothing to do with the insane amount of sweet she had consumed, and she clutches his sleeve a little tighter.

 _He enjoys how responsive she is to his touch._

The girl with the guarded eyes and stiff shoulders is disappearing little by little, and if he gets his way, Edward is not going to let her come back. In the four weeks they have been together now, every day she amazes him more than the previous one. It's not that they see each other every day, though. Bella works four days a week in addition to the two weekends a month at Bronko's. Her job in the music studio is three days a week. Then she has classes in the University. So Edward makes it a point to catch her between running from one place to another, enjoying a short lunch on their bench in the campus or kidnapping her to a small bistro near the pub for a quick cup of coffee. He arranges his time in the office accordingly and ends up working late in the evening frequently, but these stolen moments are precious to their growing relationship. The weekends Bella works in the pub, he never fails to claim the corner stool at her side of the bar for the better part of the night, not caring about Siobhan's gentle teasing or Jessica's merciless taunting. They haven't gone on a proper date, and considering how close they have already grown, it doesn't seem necessary either. Starting with the customary ritual of picking her up, having dinner at a fancy restaurant, then ending it with a kiss goodnight or a roll in the hay seems too organized in comparison to their spontaneity in easing into each other's lives.

 _He likes how naturally they fit._

There had been a few walks in the park… with and without his neighbour's dog. She was initially wary of the big, gentle beast, but a few slobbered licks and wet-nosed nudges later, a friendship began to form. He was amazed to see how she reined in her nervousness and approached the dog cautiously at first. However, when they had stopped at Edward's house before returning Franklin home, Edward had found two happy campers on his couch…one sprawling on his back with a low, yet blissful purring growl coming out of his throat and the other rubbing her hand over the silky, furry expanse of the canine as if she had been doing it for ages. That afternoon showed him the Bella Swan who refused to leave the field without giving her hundred percent if it's worth the cause. It was also the first day she'd visited his house. She had teased him about the unnaturally clean and tidy condition of a bachelor's home, but Edward hadn't missed her appreciative glances.

Their visit to the Glenbow Museum one weekend had been very interesting, because the exchange between the natural art admirer in Edward and the trained academic in Bella had earned more than a few 'shhh-s' from the other visitors around them. But sharing mutual love and disagreement over a subject they were both passionate about, essentially forged a deeper bond between them. Though they had agreed to disagree on several of those arguments.

 _He is in awe of the way she thinks and doesn't hesitate to express it._

"So? What was so interesting?" She turns his laptop towards her.

"What? Edward!" Her face flames when she realizes her Facebook photo gallery is open on the screen. "This is my…"

"This is your precious stash of hot guys, Miss Swan!" He bumps his shoulder lightly with hers. From the mirth lacing his voice, Bella knows that his trademark smirk must already be there on full display. Her face burns even more as she refuses to meet his gaze.

"Don't be embarrassed, sweetheart! I'm impressed and honoured that you keep me by your side in reality when these _fine specimens fill your naughty dreams_ ," he quotes the tagline attached to the picture of a tan-skinned, wild-haired Brazilian model.

"Oh my God!" Bella groans. Covering her face with both hands, she shakes her head in mortification.

 _How did he find those? Oh well! They are friends on Facebook and he must have clicked on her album, which she shares with Rose._

"That's more Rose than me, you know?" Looking up, she finds him watching her with a gleeful expression. "Well, I obviously contributed some, but mine are tamer than hers."

"I'm not complaining," he says, then pauses.

"But?"

"But please don't tell me we need to buy masking tapes and cable ties. No matter how much you swoon over the naked bum of that Brit guy on screen, I'm not into that BDSM stuff."

"Shut up!"

She shoves him hard enough that he falls on his back, but he pulls her with him in the process. The laptop lies discarded on the grass as their hearty laughter soon morphs into a passionate encounter of lips and tongues, until a whistle from a jogger breaks them apart.

 _Nothing's better than a non-date in the park._

 **∽o0o∼**

"Bella? Can I talk to you for a minute?" Nurse Tracy calls as they round the corner of the nurses' station. "Don't worry, dear. I just need your signature on some papers here," she adds, noticing the worry lines that appear immediately on Bella's forehead. Tracy glances toward the man behind her and quirks a thin eyebrow at the young girl in a motherly fashion that says, " _We'll talk about it later_."

"Okay. Ah… Edward, this is Tracy. Tracy, Edward. My boyfriend," she introduces them, smiling brightly at the elderly nurse.

"Hello, Ma'am." His smile mirrors hers, and Tracy beams inwardly. She has developed a soft spot for Bella in the past seven months and is happy to find her looking more content than she has ever seen.

Once she has finished the paperwork, Bella turns around, only to find that Edward has moved further down the corridor and is talking to a couple of women, who are wearing scrubs. One of them is a Caucasian with short red hair and the other one has a darker, wheat-toned skin, which indicates her foreign lineage.

"Hey, Bella! Look who I found here!" he exclaims as she nears them. "This is Dr. Patel. She lives down my street with her family, but I didn't know she is doing her residency here. I told you about attending her sister's wedding. Remember?"

"Of course. Hi," Bella greets the doctors with a smile, and they return the gesture politely.

"Jasmine flowers?" She glances up to Edward for confirmation, as he grabs her hand to pull her closer.

"Yeah, the same," he says before turning back. "Dr. Patel, this is my girlfriend, Isabella Swan."

"Nice to meet you, Miss Swan." Dr. Patel says warmly. "Oh, this is Dr. Daniela. We work together in the pediatric ward," she introduces her colleague to them.

"And Edward, you can call me Diya, even at my workplace," the beautiful Indian girl with long black hair quips, while Bella silently observes how the glint of intelligence enhances her natural beauty.

"Fair enough." He laughs heartily.

"You are visiting someone here, I assume?" Diya asks.

"Yes. Our friend is admitted in oncology. We're here to see her." His hand tightens around Bella's. The women nod in sympathetic understanding, while Bella looks up at him in wonder.

 _She likes how he has accepted the people in her life._

"Alright then. We should get going. See you later." Edward says as they bid the doctors goodbye, leaving behind a whispered "Oh My God! Your neighbor is hot, D!" and a

"Shh... Dani, stop!" interspersed with muffled giggles.

As they walk down the hall to the private rooms, Bella fails to suppress a smug grin, feeling unreasonably girly all of a sudden. It earns her a shoulder bump from the man walking beside her.

"Shut it, you!" he admonishes affectionately.

"Oh, come on! Pretty girls love you, Mr. Cullen."

Before he can form a witty reply, Bella stops in front of a closed door, announcing, "Here we are."

The scene that greets them inside is both humorous and heartwarming. Emmett, the big burly man, is hunched over Rosalie's feet at the foot of the bed. Eyes squinted in concentration, the tip of his lip sticks out from the corner of the mouth. He is holding a small bottle of nail polish in one big hand. The tiny applicator brush in the lid hangs awkwardly from his long, fleshy fingers, as he paints Rosalie's toes with the precision of a cosmetic surgeon.

"Em, are you gonna finish before they arrive? I need to dry them by today, baby." Rosalie Hale will be nothing but bossy till the end of her days, but her tired eyes radiate endless love for the man who has encompassed her in every way possible, with all of his being.

"Now I need a picture of this. Roman Reigns giving a pedicure. That'll be a priceless Facebook cover!" Bella snickers as she enters.

"Don't even think about it! I'll kill you, Swan. Take as many pics as you want because I'm not ashamed of spoiling my girl, but that's not for the hoochies to laugh at on stupid Facebook. You girls have no shame," Emmett retorts without glancing up from his task.

"That I can totally agree with, Emmett." Laughing and winking at Bella, Edward walks over to where she has her arms around her best friend now. "Hi, Rosalie," he greets.

"Edward. Still not leaving my girl alone, huh?"

"Not even thinking about it," Edward shoots back without missing a beat.

"Good to know that. Don't let my spooky spirit waste any time on scaring you when I'll be gone. I'll have better things to do."

"Rose!" Bella scolds, folding her arms across her chest, clearly disapproving of that line of thought.

"What? Don't be a ninny, Bell. You know as well as everyone that it's gonna happen. Only sooner than I'd ever planned."

"That's one thing I'm sure about," Emmett interjects as he closes the lid and put the bottle aside. "You'll still have to ward off the fuckers stalking your gorgeous ass, Rosie. You won't get time for him." Bending over his girl, he kisses her lips soundly. It's easier for him today because they have removed the oxygen tube for a few hours as she has been doing a little better since last night.

They all know what Rose is trying to do. It's not easy for them to go along with it, but they try their best. This is not the first time Edward has come to see Rose, but the previous two visits were more tense than this. She hadn't been well enough to say more than a few words. However, Rosalie hadn't failed to show him the best version of her mama-bear personality she could manage in her frail condition. Edward has already developed a liking and respect for Rosalie Hale. Bella tells him about the improvement in her spirits after Emmett's return, but nobody can ignore her rapidly declining condition. Good days like this are getting very rare.

"So, Roman Reigns? Do I want to know about it?" Edward asks Emmett in order to keep up the lighter mood.

"Oh no!" he groans theatrically, "Let's go down to the cafeteria for awful coffee, and I'll tell you about it. Don't let them tell you the story." Emmett almost shoves Edward out of the door, leaving behind two sniggering girls.

"I'll show him the comments your fan girls had posted, Em!" Bella calls out before dissolving again into a fit of giggles.

 _She never stops marveling over how effortlessly Edward can take the sharp edge off a stressful situation._

"You look happy."

Bella sighs and turns her gaze from the door to Rose, who has a curious expression on her face.

"I am," she admits simply. "He is not what I thought of him when we first met. I feel very comfortable with him, you know?"

"I can see that." Rose smiles. "But?"

"But what? Nothing!"

"But you're not ready to admit it's more than just comfort you feel."

"Isn't that the most reasonable thing to do? It's too soon to think of something more."

"Reason and time are not yours to control when it comes to matters of the heart. You, of all people, should know better than that." She looks at Bella pointedly. "You have to let yourself feel and act on that, sweetie. My gut feeling says that he is a good man. _And_ he is hot. You must have turned into a nun after that asshole Mike. How are you still resisting that fine piece of ass?" She smirks, as Bella reddens a little.

"You sound like Jess." Bella chuckles while needlessly straightening little things on the small table beside the bed.

"I like that girl. How's she?"

"She's her usual sassy self! Flirting shamelessly with the new Mexican boy Liam hired and giving Edward hell every single chance she gets! They exchange insults like bickering siblings. Even Liam has stopped reminding her that he's also a customer because Edward is just as bad as her. You should see them, Rose!"

 _She loves how easily the people in the pub, her most active social circle, have accepted him._

"Tell Jess to keep it up with Mr. Green-Eyes here. She needs to cover my share of leg pulling, too."

"Rose," Bella sighs. "Why do you say things like this all the time?"

"Because you need to accept it. Because I have accepted it. Why should you keep skirting around the subject, Bell? Do you think I wanted this? No! But I don't have any power to stop it either. So you need to prepare yourself to be without me."

"So easy for you to say, Rosalie Hale!" Bella snaps. "Because you won't have to prepare for that. Ever! But I'll have no one whom I can call RosiePosie." Her voice cracks at the end as she finally verbalizes one of her greatest pains, and she turns her face away from her best friend. "I have never lived a life without you." Her last words are barely a whisper.

"No, you won't. I forbid you from doing that, Isabella Swan," Rose replies with the usual authority in her exhausted voice. "You will name your daughter Rose so that you can yell at her as much as you can. All the shouting matches you have lost to me? You can make it up then."

"You are impossible!" Bella manages to speak with a choked voice and as usual, Rosalie's smirk signals the end of that discussion.

"Now tell me how you are feeling today." Bella rubs her hand over Rosalie's upper arm, carefully avoiding the IV attached to her wrist.

When the men return to the room, they find Bella sitting quietly on the chair, clutching a sleeping Rosalie's hand in hers.

However, Edward doesn't miss the way her eyes are glossed over, and he knows that Bella is silently talking in her heart. When she turns to look at him, she is still lost in her thoughts, but her eyes embrace him with thousands of unspoken emotions.

 _I'm not going to be able to hold the words in for much longer,_ the voice in his head declares, growing steadily louder with each passing day.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading.**

 **ForeverRobsessed has finished another of her wonderful stories - Going in Blind.**

 **Go! Read! It's amazing :)... just like her!**


	7. Said Between Your Heart and Mine

**A/N: Thank you Rita01tx for the great honor of featuring this story on her blog and sending so many valuable readers this way. You are a sweetheart, a beautiful person inside and outside. I just absorb your love and kindness like the fangirl I am!**

 **My endless love and gratitude to ForeverRobsessed for making this story possible with her amazing talent.**

 **It's June 20th, our gorgeous immortal's birthday. Let's celebrate a birthday ;)**

 ***I don't own anything related to Twilight except the four paperbacks and my love for the characters.**

* * *

 **Chapter 7- Said Between Your Heart and Mine**

 _ ***Tuesday, Sept 20th***_

"You!"

The shout rings out over the usual din of the pub the moment he steps inside and Edward groans loudly, earning a chuckle from Tyler, the doorman.

"Looks like someone's in trouble." Tyler slaps his back, as Jessica barrels toward him.

"I don't care who you are. You are not gonna get a drink until you fix what you've done to my girl!" A sharp finger nail painted in glazing red digs into his chest, accompanied by a murderous glare from the blonde bartender.

"What are you talking about? What have I done? Where's Isabella?"Though Edward is familiar with Jessica's quirks by now, she has never been hostile towards him.

"You tell me! I mean, she is in the back office, filing Liam's receipts, but I don't know what has gotten into her. She's unnaturally quiet today and requested the boss to switch places with her, offering to do the filing job I know she hates with a passion."

By then, they have reached the door leading to the small hallway behind the bar, and a hint of concern has replaced the exasperation which was evident in Jessica's voice moments ago.

"Seriously, Edward. Bella is more sombre than I've seen her in a while. I asked about Rosalie, but she assured me there has been no huge deterioration in her condition. Rose is hanging in there, if I may say so. Bella has been happier this past month, and don't feel smug, but I know it's because of you. So care to tell me what has happened? Did you two have a fight? _And_ don't tell me to stop poking my nose in your business, Cullen, because you hurt my mate and that's very much my business!"

"I haven't talked to her after last night because she had classes all day, and if she needed me, she would have called..." he muses. Not paying attention to Jess anymore, he steps around her to the closed door of Liam's office. Just before his hand closes around the doorknob, Edward looks back over his shoulder.

"And thank you for poking your nose in my business again." He pulls his face into a mock scowl, as Jessica flips him the bird.

The scene that greets him inside the small office adds a couple of lines to his already creased forehead. Bella is hunched over the keyboard, but her fingers are unmoving. Eyes pinched shut, the hard lines of her jaw visible as if she's trying to hold something in with great effort. She is noticeably upset. Edward lingers near the door for a few seconds before tapping lightly on the wood, not wanting to startle her by breaking the silence of the room. Bella's head snaps up.

"Hey, sunshine," he greets.

"Edward." She forces a smile. It's an expression he hasn't seen in the past month—five weeks and three days, to be specific—that they have been together. Her smile for him has always been spontaneous and genuine, as if she is happy to see him. However, tonight it fails to reach her eyes.

"What are you doing so early here? I thought we were going to meet for dinner at your house later. Change of plans?"

"Not that I know of." He walks over to her before leaning in and kissing her cheeks, her chin, and the corner of her mouth. He interlaces his fingers with hers, but also discerns the stiffness in her body language.

"You haven't told me what you want to have, so I don't know what to order. Busy day, I assume?" Tugging her hand, he pulls the troubled girl up from the desk chair. He leads them to the couch a few feet away and sits, helping her settle herself sideways in his lap.

"Not really. I… uh, I didn't go to classes today." She is looking everywhere but at him. Her fingers lie clasped tightly in her lap, not touching him.

"Really? What did you do then?" It's very hard to mask his utter surprise, but Edward manages to sound nonchalant. He has endless patience when it comes to making his girl comfortable enough to open up about what's bothering her.

"Well, I went to the first class, but ditched it halfway. The lecture was going over my head, I couldn't concentrate," she sighs. "I was with Rose for the rest of the day."

"How is she? I thought about visiting her today with you, but didn't say anything because I didn't know if you'd have enough time in your schedule. I didn't want to pressure you bunking classes either, but I was free all day. I expected at least a phone call once you got a free minute somewhere in between because..." He looks at her closely, trying to figure out the reason behind her avoidance of him all day.

The more he thinks, the clearer it gets that Bella has intentionally avoided him during the day. Every time he tried to call her, he was directed straight to her voicemail.

"Why didn't you call me, Bella?" This time he fails to hide his disappointment.

"You wanted to go see her with me today? Why?" This time Bella looks directly at him, unable to hide her surprise and wariness.

For a few very long seconds, he simply stares at her, saying nothing.

"Don't you want me to go with you to see Rose?" The crease between his eyebrows reappears.

"That's not what I'm asking, Edward! Don't twist my words. You usually accompany me there on weekends. Why did you want to go with me _today_? That's all I'm asking."

Edward can see her irritation mounting, but he can also sense that she is trying to force some other emotion down, not allowing herself to feel it.

"Why _today_?" he muses. "Because I thought you'd like to visit the most important person in your life today, and you won't be opposed to having me with you, at least for a little while." He skims his nose lightly over the side of her face as he continues. "Because I thought you'd like to spend a little time together on your birthday." His arms tighten around her for a moment before drawing back.

"But I guess my expectation has overstepped a boundary here. I'm sorry, love," he finishes, undisguised hurt flashing in his eyes.

The battle between her logical brain and foolish heart has already started to wane, but the last of his words become her undoing. Gasping aloud, she clutches his shirt with both of her hands as tears pool in her eyes.

"You remember it's my birthday!"

The whispered words are not a question, and she wraps her arms around his neck. Unaware of the wide-eyed, slightly open-mouthed and very confused state of her boyfriend, she hugs him tightly. "You remember it," she repeats quietly between shuddering breaths, as though she doesn't quite believe what she is saying.

Edward's arms encircle her reflexively, and he buries his face in the juncture of her neck and her shoulder. A few pounding heartbeats later, she pulls away to look at him sheepishly.

"Sorry. I thought you forgot. It's not like I'm big on celebrations, you know? Actually, except Rose and Liam here, nobody even knows about it. As my boss, he came to know of it from my resume, but he has kept his promise of not sharing it with anyone, and I told you that I have..."

"Shhh… relax. Take a breath." Putting a finger over her lips, he effectively stops her rambling. Bella pants lightly, while he traces his fingers along her hairline to tuck an errant curl behind her ear. Without moving his gaze from her face, he drags the tip of his index finger down the column of her neck, over her left collarbone and stops at the hollow at the base of her throat. Ignoring her hitched breathing and his own acute urge to kiss her hard on the lips, he sighs loudly.

 _He needs to clear his confusion, and her answers are the only way to do that._

"Of course I remember your birthday. Why would you question it? Wasn't my note clear enough?"

"Note? What are you talking about?"

"Bella, you were asleep when I left this morning. I wasn't supposed to go in today, but there was an emergency at work and they needed me for just a couple hours. So I left a little something on the kitchen counter with your breakfast. Didn't you see it?"

"Oh shit!" she groans loudly, covering her face with her hands.

"What?" he asks, prying her hands away.

"I slept in and rushed out without even looking in there. I'm so sorry, Edward! I haven't even tidied up the bed this morning."

Shaking his head in disbelief, Edward chuckles lightly. "Now that clears up everything."

"What? What did I miss?"

Lifting her from his lap, he stands and puts his hands on her shoulders.

"Miss Swan, you stay right here until I get back. Alright?"

She can only nod wordlessly.

He takes a couple of steps towards the door, only to turn back quickly and lift her in his arms, crushing her against his chest. Holding the back of her head in one of his hands, he peppers fevered kisses all over her face before finally smashing his lips with hers. She fists his shirt tightly and returns his affection with equal fervour.

Then just as quickly as he'd started the kiss, he withdraws and backs away. He taps the tip of her nose in a playful warning before dashing out of the room.

 _He needs what's lying in the backseat of his car right now._

∽ **o0o** ∼

"Yo! Cullen!"

Edward ignores the whistles and the catcalls behind his back because he knows the reason behind them very well and has no intention of stopping. He slows down as he returns to the back office and opens the door to find Bella standing by the desk, toying with a thin strip of printout paper.

"Hey." Slightly out of breath from his quick run, he greets her with a bright smile. For some reason, it makes her blush, which is not a very frequent thing.

He makes his way towards her, and when the tips of their shoes are almost touching, she cocoons herself in his warmth in a way she often does. She doesn't wrap her arms around him as people generally do when they hug someone, at least not immediately. Clutching the front of his shirt in her fists, she buries her face in his chest. The first time she had done this, Edward was a bit surprised, but his arms had wrapped around her without missing a beat. He knows now that it's her way of seeking comfort without asking for it aloud.

They both remain quiet for a little while, just holding each other. Then one of his fingers pokes her lightly in the rib. Jerking back, she tilts her head upward to find the familiar mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

"Talk to me, please."

Tucking her head under his chin again, she sighs.

"I wanted to spend today with you. But… uh, didn't know how to ask."

"But _I_ asked you last week! You said you had classes all day, and you couldn't miss them. Why didn't you say anything then?"

"I know! It's just…" She pulls away from him and walks towards the window overlooking the back of the pub. Keeping her back to him, she gathers her composure and forces the words out.

"Birthdays have always been a quiet affair for me. Charlie wasn't good at showing affection, so a simple greeting and a few bills for buying whatever I wanted was his kind of celebration." The fondness in her voice shows her longing and her love for him."Once he was gone, it was just Rose and I. I don't even have the date showing on my Facebook, you know? It feels awkward to receive wishes from people who don't actually remember or care for it and just post a customary greeting because Facebook tells them to _let me know that they are thinking about me."_

She glances over her shoulder to find him still standing where he has been.

"You still haven't told me how you found out. Are you ever going to?"

"No." He laughs, earning a glare from her.

"Whatever." Turning her back to him again, she continues, "You asked about my plans for today and I brushed it off. When you asked me to stay with you last night, I thought you must've planned something, and suddenly, I started expecting a special day… unlike the ordinary rite of passage it has been in the past.. So I asked Liam for a day off. But when I woke up in the morning, you weren't there…"

The silence is heavy in the small room once her voice trails off.. Then a pair of strong arms encircles her waist. A firm body covers the whole length of hers from behind, a stubbly chin rests in the crook of her neck, and warm lips press on the sensitive skin behind her right ear. Her eyes close of their own accord while a shudder runs down her spine.

"You missed me today, but didn't call me once. You didn't even return my calls." His warm breath fans over her exposed skin, quickening her heartbeat. She leans her head back to rest on his shoulder automatically, but remains quiet.

"Because you thought I don't care about you enough to spend your birthday with you?"

A small nod is her only response.

"You thought I'll think it silly because I don't care for romantic gestures?"

Again, a nod.

"Could you be more absurd?"

She nods again, only to stop halfway and turn sharply in his arms.

Confused, anxious brown meets amused, smouldering green.

Edward moves his hand behind his back and pulls out a single white daisy from his back pocket. He breaks the stem a few inches below the receptacle before sticking it gently into her messy bun.

"See? You even made me buy flowers and still think I don't care about your birthday? Silly woman! I don't just care about you. _I love you_!"

Bella remains mute because the lump lodged in her throat is making it impossible to voice her thoughts in that moment. His declaration leaves her breathless with stinging eyes. Then she flies into his arms with a force that makes him stagger backward. Her lips silence his chuckle with a passion Edward has yet to see from her.

Unrelenting, insistent lips and wildly roaming hands continue to speak for their hearts until a knock breaks the connection.

"Hello! Is it okay to reclaim my office?" Liam teases, poking his head inside, and then continues without giving the embarrassed pair a chance to reply. "Good. I can see that you two have mended fences nicely, and I'm happy to have provided the necessary space."

"It's my fault, Liam," Edward starts apologizing, while Bella hurriedly tries to right her clothes, but Liam waves him off.

"No, Edward. I'm actually thankful to you for making the birthday girl smile. I don't like my employees grumpy." He winks at her good-naturedly.

"Liam, I'm sorry, but I haven't done much with the bills..." Again, he cuts Bella off mid-sentence.

"Hush! I had given you the day off, and I don't remember changing that." Guiding her to the door, Liam gently pushes her out. "Go out there, calm Jess down a bit, and get outta here. I don't wanna see you before tomorrow evening."

Still not completely recovered from the overwhelming act of affection, Bella complies with her boss' order. Edward follows her after shooting a grateful nod towards Liam.

Out in the bar, unsurprisingly, an over-excited Jessica waits for them.

"What? Don't you have anything to do except meddling in other people's business?" Edward taunts her before she can say a word. "I'm sure Liam's ledger will be showing bankruptcy if you continue to work for him much longer."

"Shut it, Cullen!" Jessica glowers at him before turning to Bella. "How do you even tolerate this man, let alone date him? He's such an ass!"

"Her system has been desensitized long ago because of you, Blondie."

Shaking her head in amusement at their usual ribbing, Bella retrieves her belongings and leans in to hug her friend, but Jess throws her arms out to stop her.

"Wait a minute! You are wearing a flower in your hair, and you're leaving already. What's going on?" she demands.

Ignoring her questions, Bella pulls her into a hug. "Get used to him, Jess, because I like this ass too much to let him go. And it's my birthday gift, so be polite," she whispers in her ear.

Jessica's eyes widen, as Bella winks slyly at her.

"Tomorrow, Jess."

Bella tugs at Edward's hand and drags him toward the door to avoid further interrogation. Edward, however, cannot resist looking back over his shoulder to throw a "Bye, Nosey!" at the momentarily-speechless girl.

∼ **o0o** ∽

Silent electricity fizzles inside the car all the way to his house. Neither of them says much, but their eyes lock frequently, and the passion swirling in them is undeniable.

 _Tonight will be the night._

Although the physical side of their relationship has been very spontaneous from the beginning, they haven't gone all the way yet. She has stayed over a few times, and he has done the same. They have always shared the bed and more than once, have found themselves tangled with each other in the morning. The heavy make-out sessions often left them breathless in various stages of undress, and there was no specific reason to wait, but something nagged in Bella's mind, proclaiming it to be too soon every time he pushed the line a little further.

She doubts that voice will make an appearance tonight.

Edward stretches his arm to switch the foyer light on once they step inside. As soon as Bella closes the door behind them, he braces his arms on either side of her head, trapping her against it. Closing the gap between them, he captures her lips with his. Without breaking the kiss, he picks her up and starts to move further into the house. Pausing by the two steps leading up to the living room, they fumble to remove their shoes. Another habit they have found in common—no outside shoes in the house. Somehow managing the task without putting her down, Edward walks into the kitchen. They continue to kiss in the dark once he places her on the counter with him standing between her legs. Hungry lips travel down her throat...nipping, sucking lightly. Warm hands greedily explore the curves over and under her clothes, arousing her to a state where she is nothing but a quivering mess.

Her legs coming around his thighs to pull him even closer break the frenzy of the moment. He hugs her tightly to his chest, trying to gather what is left of his strength to stop himself from devouring her right there on the counter.

"You'll be the death of me, woman!" he mumbles under his breath.

After catching his breath, he steps away to flick the light on, making Bella squint against the sudden brightness.

When she looks over to where he's standing, she gasps out loud. Sitting on the central island of his beautiful kitchen is an assortment of things—a covered plate, a teapot wrapped in tea-cosy, a teabag of her favorite jasmine tea in a cup, a glass of orange juice, her purple travel coffee mug, and a folded piece of paper—all neatly arranged in a tray.

Hopping down from her perch on the counter, she walks over to pick up the plate covering the food. Her chin trembles as she breaks a small piece of the now stale and hard pancakes and places it in her mouth before Edward can stop her.

"Bella, you don't have to do this. The food must be rancid by now."

Ignoring him, she picks up the paper next.

" _You are the most beautiful pebble I keep in the pocket over my heart. You control my gravity and my heartbeats. Happy Birthday, my beautiful swan."_

 _**Don't be too impressed, I stole this from someone's post on Facebook, but the emotion behind it is as genuine as your heart is._

She turns slowly, eyes glistening and a smile playing on her lips. She looks up to find him sporting a sheepish grin.

"And you said you don't do romantic."

An unceremonious shrug is all she gets in response before the doorbell rings, announcing the arrival of the food they ordered on their way home.

After a scrumptious meal of her favourite Thai food, followed by a shower, Bella finally walks into his bedroom wearing a comfortable pair of sleep shorts and a tank top. The bed is tidied up now, as expected—courtesy of her slightly neat freak boyfriend. The curtains are partially open to let the glimmer of distant city lights in. The clean, dimly lit room exudes its usual calmness. Said boyfriend, however, is emanating a strong, sensual vibe by just being there, which makes her insides tremble with a burning need.

 _He said the three words._

Clad only in navy sweatpants, Edward is standing by the window with his back to the door, looking outside, engrossed in untold thoughts. She walks over silently to wrap her arms tightly around his waist from behind and breathes him in… soap, a hint of Dior from the morning, and his own woodsy smell. The heady combination makes Bella close her eyes and rub her cheek against the muscular expanse of his back. She craves to feel more of his skin under her palms, on her bare skin, and to taste it with her tongue. He isn't anything like the guys who pose in front of a mirror with cell phones in hands, taking selfies of their chiseled bodies in tight underwear, but his tall, lean, athletic body exudes the right kind of temptation that drives her wild with desire. It's a mystery that she has been able to restrain herself this long.

Tilting his head backward, Edward sighs contently. He stands there for a few minutes with his eyes closed, enjoying the feel of her warm, light kisses on his back and her hands roaming over his torso, before turning to enclose her in his arms.

Just like earlier in Liam's office, his finger starts tracing around her lips, following the line of her jaw to her ear, down the slender column of her neck to follow the ridge of her collarbone. As it travels down the valley between her breasts, her skin prickles with tiny goosebumps. She tightens her hold on his shoulders, while his other hand tugs the tie off her hair to let it cascade down her back. He grips the back of her head, tilting it slightly, and claims her lips with his own with a fiery passion.

From that point, the age-old dance of desire follows the rhythm of their pounding hearts to evolve in an all-consuming inferno. Breathless moans and the rustle of shedding clothes fill the air, excited hands caress unexplored skin, hungry lips leave their marks, impassioned eyes never stray from each other as one blazing love engulfs another with equal intensity, connecting their bodies as well as their souls.

Their naked bodies remain entwined as their rugged breaths gradually slow down. Bella gently pushes the damp hair off his forehead, smiling fondly when it comes back down right away. Leaning down, he kisses her tenderly, the gesture completely unlike the heated kisses he had been raining all over her body a little while ago.

"Did I wish you _Happy Birthday_ after all?" His voice is light and playful, as he skims his nose along hers… up and down, left and right.

"Not in those exact words, no." She giggles, still a little out of breath.

"Well, what's more fitting than wishing happy birthday in birthday suits?" He nudges the underside of her chin with his lips and trails them down to the swell of her breasts, his stubble creating a wondrous sensation on her heated skin.

"Then I guess I've been thoroughly wished, Mr. Cullen."

The room is darker, the curtains completely drawn when they finally settle for the night. Both preferring to move comfortably during the night, they tend to leave enough space between them when they fall asleep. Although, more than once, they have surprisingly woken up tangled in various intimate positions. Tonight, however, the cold night air finds them lying close enough to feel one's warm breath on the other's skin. He is on his back, an arm lying under her shoulders, holding her loosely. She is on her side with a bare leg thrown over his, her head nestled comfortably in the crook of his strong shoulder and her arm wrapped around his torso.

Edward is almost asleep when she starts drawing lazy patterns on his chest, just over his heart.

Realization reaches the territory of his senses when Bella's finger completes the circuit for the fifth time. The nonsensical patterns he thought she was creating morph seamlessly into words that set his heart soaring. Tightening his arm around her shoulders, he gathers his girl close. A whisper melts in the semi-darkness before gentle lips touch the side of her head.

"I love you too, sweetheart."

* * *

 **EdwardsFirstKiss... that's what happens when Edward says ILY :-)**

 **One more chapter and it's done. Thank you for reading and reviewing.**


	8. Eight Days a Week

**Disclaimer: I don't have any claim on anything related to Twilight except my love for the characters. That's what gave me the courage to play with them a little. Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight.**

 **This time, I'll see you at the end :-)**

* * *

 **Chapter 8 - Eight Days a Week**

The flock of magpies dances away as footfalls near them. The wind carries the fragrance of blossoms that bloom all year round as it circles the approaching figures. Last night's rain still lingers on the edges of the grass, sparkling like diamond droplets on the green blades. It's a beautiful day in mid-August. The bright sunlight has not only erased the usual heavy sombreness that surrounds the cemetery, but has also added a jubilant serenity. Today, the air doesn't feel heavy with painful memories of lost lives . . . it whispers of how those human spirits had celebrated life.

Another group of birds chirp their protest and fly away as Edward and Bella come to a stop in front of a grave. Bella steps around him to kneel next to the black granite headstone and cleans the wet leaves from it. Edward hands her the bunch of flowers they have brought, and she gently places it at the foot of the tombstone.

"Hey, RosiePosie," she whispers, slowly tracing the name engraved on the stone. A moment passes before she straightens up and steps back to stand beside Edward, who takes her hand in his, but otherwise remains quiet.

After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Bella sighs and squeezes his hand before releasing hers from his grasp. Glancing at her left hand, she twists her wrist to hold it palm down, and the ring glints in the sunlight, making her smile fondly.

"I wish you were here," she says quietly. "I wish you were here to yell at me for not having enough make-up on or a more extravagant dress. To tell me how unacceptable it is to get married in the courthouse without a bouquet in my hand. Or threatening Edward to take good care of me, otherwise he'll have to answer you." Chuckling softly, Edward gathers her close to his body with an arm around her waist. A single tear runs down her cheek as they stand there in silence.

Bella knows it's going to be quite an emotional day for her, but she is ready for this. She has been ready for a while. There have been several changes in her life in this past year, but the man standing beside her has made them all worthwhile. When he stepped into her life a year ago, she didn't have any idea how he would become such an integral part of it.

Rosalie passed away in her sleep last October. Despite being prepared for the inevitable for months, the tremendous agony of losing her oldest friend was devastating for Bella. However, those days of grief also taught her how to lean on someone who cares, how to let herself be weak with someone who respects her strength. Edward forced her to break down and embrace her feelings, pulling her out of that abyss of pain with love and care. She slowly learned to depend on him, to share her burden.

She doesn't feel alone anymore.

"I miss you so much, Rose." There is a sense of contentment in her words when Bella speaks again. "But I'm happy, too. He makes me so deliriously happy that he even coerced me into marrying him." She chuckles. "But you can yell at him, you know? I won't stop you this time. He is such a prude to cut off sex for two weeks before the wedding! Can you believe it? I felt like a villain jumping on him, trying to rob his virtue, and he didn't even let me touch him." She sends him a mock glare.

"Ah! So this is what the girls' private talk sounds like." He grins and kisses the side of her head, carefully avoiding the tiny white flowers she has used to style her hair. "Don't be mad, sweetheart. You'll find it worth the wait. Trust me." He winks.

Her eyes grow intense as the playfulness disappears.

"I do," she declares quietly, tipping her head up to meet his gaze.

∽ **o0o** ∼

The regular patrons of Bronko's Pub have never seen it closed except during Christmas time. However, a week ago, Liam hung up a very bold sign announcing a two-day closing notice, surprising them all. "Sorry guys! Our girl is getting married, and we are celebrating it here," was his proud explanation.

Therefore, this late August afternoon, when the newly married couple enters the pub, a gathering of twenty or so people greets them with loud and cheerful _Congratulations._ The smiling faces of Edward's parents, Liam and Siobhan, Emmett, and Jess in all her glory welcome them inside. Angela and Ben—who have become good friends with Edward and Bella, Mrs. Simpson, Louisa, Dr. Diya Patel who has brought along a handsome colleague as her date, congratulate them enthusiastically. Some people from Edward's work, a few of Bella's friends, and all the other regular employees of the pub present today as guests, have also joined the celebration. The attendance is small, but meaningful because they wanted to share their day with these people.

When Bella asked Liam and Siobhan to be present at the courthouse, both of them had tears in their eyes. "You are the closest thing to parents I have left in my life, and it would mean the world to me if you would come," she said. In return, they wanted to throw a small party for them at the pub. "You are the daughter we never had, so it's our right to do this for you," was their logic.

Liam had waved off her objection about losing business for a couple days, asking her to consider it her wedding gift and farewell as an employee. Bella had to agree after that. She started working at a local gallery earlier this month and has been enjoying it very much. Her interview for the post of a column writer for the literature section of an online magazine had also gone well. She is hopeful about accommodating both jobs if the schedules match. While she is thrilled about the developments of her career, not seeing the people from the pub on a regular basis still saddens her, because Bronko's Pub holds many fond memories. She handed over the reins to Siobhan and Jessica, trusting the older woman's ability to control Jessica from going overboard.

The pub has been decorated with streamers and flowers of colours available at this time of the year, the furniture arranged in a way to create a spacious dance floor in the middle. The laughter and happiness suffusing the room overwhelm Bella in a way she has never experienced. Music blends with the chatter, people dancing at their will, without waiting for the customary first dance from the bride and groom, food and drinks being served and enjoyed by all—the afternoon seems like a page from a fairy tale she had never read. She never knew the people in her life could be so happy to share her joy so openly.

Her eyes keep returning to the man who made it possible. Looking devastatingly handsome in a simple black suit and tie, Edward is greeting and thanking people for coming today. His unrestrained happiness reaches her through an invisible thread across the room, warming her cheeks, warming her heart, not to mention inciting the quivering anticipation in her belly. Two weeks of not touching him in the most intimate way, except some heavy kisses, have been intolerable. So much so that she went back to her old apartment, which Rosalie had left in her name, to avoid the utter sexual frustration when the object of her burning lust was in front her and she couldn't do anything about it. It was much better than to sleep separately under the same roof. Though he had not explained the reason for this ridiculous decision, she had respected his request.

If a person as physically passionate as him wants to be celibate voluntarily, there must be a good reason for it, and she trusts him about making up for the dry spell he has brought upon them.

 _A few hours more_ , she sighs inwardly and turns to pick her glass of fresh lemony gin and tonic from the counter she has been leaning on, when Emmett approaches her. He went back to Vancouver after Rosalie's death, but Edward and Bella remained in touch with him. They know Emmett will always have a special space filled with Rosalie's love and memories in his heart, and respecting her wishes, he will not stop himself from moving on, to find love again if the possibility arises in the future… just not yet.

"Hey, B. You're looking so lovely today." He engulfs her in a bear hug, and they remain that way for a long moment. "She would be so happy for you today, you know? She is happy _. I know she is_ ," he whispers in her hair as Bella's eyes sting with unshed tears. "Though I'm not sure my Rosie would have approved of your choice of attire." Emmett effectively defuses the sudden heaviness as he holds her at arm's length. Mischief twinkles in his blue-grey eyes, as he gestures toward her simple rose gold coloured dress with a wide satin belt at the waist and lacy sleeves and neckline.

"I'm sure she would have had some choice words and a not-so-short lecture, Em," Edward supplies, laughing with them as he comes to stand beside his bride.

"Hey, sweetheart. Are you having a good time?" He skims his nose down her cheek. For the umpteenth times in the afternoon, forks clink against the wine glasses, cheerful whistles ringing unapologetically, and they grant their guests their wish with undeniable eagerness of their own.

"Alright, alright… break it up you two!" Jessica hollers. "Time for the cake!" she adds just as Angela carries in a medium sized, three-tiered chocolate cake with vanilla frosting. But what catches the eyes of everyone around is the object on top of it.

 _A tiny replica of a red telephone booth_.

"Oh my God!" Bella exclaims shakily, her voice thick with emotion. "That is so amazing. How did you guys do everything so perfectly?"

"We love you, Bella," Angela answers simply with a genuine smile.

"Come on, Mrs. Cullen. Let's go back to where it all started." Edward guides her forward, and they hold the knife together as it cuts through the soft cream. Kissing the cream off his lips afterwards, however, intensifies her desire for him stronger than is appropriate in public.

Then comes the moment they both have been dreading from the beginning—their first dance as a married couple. With neither of them being very skilled in the art, they always try to avoid dancing in public, but today, no one is going to accept their excuses.

Edward's mother gently propels the couple to the center of the room as the opening chords of Keith Urban's 'Making Memory of Us' float from the speakers. They sway a little awkwardly in each other's arms at first, but as the beautiful lyrics wrapped in the soft melody envelope them, the world around them slowly disappears. Cocooned in their all-consuming love, they envision a lifetime full of amazing moments… the moments they are going to turn into memories of a life well-lived together.

"I love you," she says so quietly against his lips that he feels it rather than hears it.

For a few moments, time seems to stand still even after the song ends before the joyful applause around them brings the couple back to reality. Bella blushes a lovely shade of pink, while Edward's hand tugs at his earlobe in embarrassment.

"Okay! Enough of these emo songs! I need some fast numbers to shake my booty now," Jess shouts.

"Oh, yes! That's very mature of you, blondie," Edward taunts her just when Liam groans loudly.

"Not that ear-splitting nonsense you call music, Jess!"

"Not the old sleepy songs either, Boss," Jess shoots back.

Liam turns to his wife. "Let's show them how it's done, Darling, shall we?" He gestures towards the makeshift dance floor.

"Absolutely!" Siobhan beams, and Liam runs to the music system behind the bar to put on the song he needs.

Thrums of electric guitar fill the air as Liam dances his way to where Siobhan has already started moving her body in time with the beats. Edward's father cheers them on with a loud whistle when Liam starts singing the first lines of _Eight Days a Week_ by The Beatles aloud, all the while moving his hips and feet with surprising fluency. Jess stands with her mouth hanging open in shock for a moment before she starts clapping and hooting for the pair. Then, unable to resist the appeal of the song, everyone joins them, except Louisa and the newlyweds.

They stand outside the dance floor, beside Louisa's chair, clapping and laughing at the scene in front of them. Edward's father twirls his mother around without a care in the world, while Mrs. Simpson shows Emmett how to dance properly to a timeless song, as she puts it. The younger guests have shed all pretences to follow the moves Liam is showing his wife. Joy and celebration overflow throughout the room, making Bella's heart soar with a happiness she has never known.

 _Love you every day, girl_

 _Always on my mind_

 _One thing I can say, girl_

 _Love you all the time_

 _Hold me, love me, hold me, love me_

 _Ain't got nothing but love, girl_

 _Eight days a week._

 _Eight days a week_

 _I love you_

 _Eight days a week_

 _Is not enough to show I care..._

Edward sings in her ear, while he holds her from behind and sways with the rhythm. Her body moves of its own accord, her heart beating in tune with the fast tempo of the song.

As the afternoon turns into evening, the party carries on until the toes can't move anymore, there's no place left for a morsel of food in their bellies, and their facial muscles ache with all the laughter they have exercised. The faces of their friends sport a healthy glow from all the alcohol and dancing as they hug and kiss the happy couple goodbye. A plan to get together on tomorrow night for the Fireworks Festival in the Elliston Park forms as everyone follows them to their car to wave goodbye. Obviously, Edward's inquiry about it is met with loud collective suggestions on how they should think about their own fireworks and not burning the house down.

"That's a very good idea, I must say." He claps Ben on the back before opening the door for his wife. Tomorrow, they will be leaving for a secluded cabin nestled in the Rockies, just a little outside of the regular hiking trails of Banff National Park. Bella's new job doesn't permit a longer trip at this moment, so they are escaping to this shorter honeymoon for now.

 _I can't deny that either_ , Bella thinks, her eyes following Edward as he walks around the car to the driver's side.

∽ **o0o** ∼

There is something different about the first time you make love to the man you have married. The anticipation seems greater than usual, the familiar body feels even more mysterious, and the well-known touches evoke a craving that has been unknown previously. However, Bella finds it difficult to ponder her newfound theory of passion between man and wife at this moment because of that man himself.

Edward has brought her from the car to the house in a perfect caveman style, obviously foregoing the tradition of gently carrying the bride over the threshold. She is draped over his shoulder, and he holds her behind and the back of her thighs, both of them laughing uncontrollably as he barges through the door—it has been quite a rush of adrenaline.

Once in the bedroom, they stand in front of each other and the frenzy transforms into a simmering passion that sizzles around the edges of their burning desire. Her hands shake slightly as she raises them to push the jacket off his shoulders, while he stands still, drinking her in with undisguised lust. Grasping his tie, she pulls his face down to nip gently at his lips before unfastening and dropping it unceremoniously with the discarded suit jacket on the floor. His cufflinks follow suit, as she starts to open the buttons of his crisp white shirt.

 _There's something very seductive about a fully dressed woman stripping the layers of a man, the man she possesses by his body and soul_ , she thinks, when Edward suddenly stiffens, making her fingers stop.

"What is it, baby? What's wrong?" Bella murmurs.

"Nothing's wrong." His hand comes up to the zipper on her back, and he drags it down slowly while his other hand pushes the sleeves down one by one. "It's just… I have something for you that I thought you'd like…" he trails off as the dress pools around her feet, revealing the body he craves so much, adorned in alluring lace and satin.

"But you are having second thoughts now?" The corner of her lip twitches. "What is it, Mr. Cullen?"

"Well, I think it's now or never." He shrugs. "Strip me bare, Mrs. Cullen, and see for yourself." He grins as his fingers trace patterns on the soft skin at the small of her back, leaving a fiery trail as they go.

Her fingers resume the task of unbuttoning his shirt, curiosity raging stronger in her mind. Finally, after untucking the shirt from his waistband, she pushes it off his shoulders, only to gasp in astonishment at the sight that greets her eyes.

 _A tattoo_.

The stunningly gorgeous tattoo of a recycling symbol wrapped around the script of an unknown language is imprinted on his pectoral muscle, just over his heart. Vibrant in green, red, blue, and black—the intricacy of the craftsmanship makes the design looks like an ancient symbol full of mysterious meaning behind it.

"Wow!" she whispers in awe, and he releases the breath he has been holding. "This is beautiful, Edward!" she says, tracing her finger over the swirling lines of the symbol, sending a rippling sensation through his body.

"Is this why you banned me from touching you?" Realization dawns on her in that moment and she looks up expectantly.

"Yeah! Couldn't let you see and ruin my surprise, you know?" The devilish smirk appears as expected. "Do you like it?" he asks.

"I love it! This is gorgeous. But you said that it's for me. What does it mean? I can't read the word." She retraces the letters with the tip of her finger.

"The word means happiness. You are the happiness of my life, Isabella, and you rejuvenate it every day, every moment you are with me. The recycling sign symbolizes that purpose. So this _is_ you in my eyes. Plain and simple." His hand covers hers where it has been resting over the design.

By the time, he has finished explaining, tears of unbridled happiness have been rolling down Bella's cheeks.

"Oh, Edward!" That's all she can manage to choke out before she wraps her arms around his neck and crashes her lips to his. For the next several moments, the only sound that fills the room is one pair of lips telling the other of the abundance of love they feel.

Gasping for much-needed air, they pull apart, and Edward wipes the remnant of tears from her face with his thumbs.

"What's the language? It looks a bit like what Adam Levine has. How do you say it?" Bella asks, still a little breathless.

"It's Hindi. Diya helped me to draw the word correctly. You pronounce it as _Khushi_."

" _Khushi_. I love how it sounds." She leans down to kiss the symbol of happiness he has etched on his body.

 _Claiming to be a man not too keen on romantic gestures, Edward couldn't be more wrong about himself._ However, she doesn't verbalize that thought because the only thing that matters is how she feels it to the very core of her existence, and that's enough for her.

He will hold her and love her, _eight days a week,_ no matter what.

All the talk about language and designs ends after that as the overwhelming need for each other compels them to speak the ancient language of passion that doesn't require any cultivated linguistic skill.

What had started with a wrongly-dialed number a year ago, finally finds the right way home.

 **The End**

* * *

 **My journey with them ends here. It's a bittersweet moment but I'm happy to let them go on their own. Ordinary lives don't have headline-making events all the time but experience their own smooth sailings and rough currents. Their life will also be like that eternal voyage of common people.**

 **I don't have enough words to express my gratitude and love for ForeverRobsessed. This story would have been impossible without her support and talent. Thank you so so much from the bottom of my heart.**

 **Thank you, wonderful readers, for showing so much love to my little tale. This gives me the hope to come back one day, with another story.**


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